A stream that runs through Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam is a little quiet this week after hundreds of coho salmon fry were killed when the pump that keeps water flowing broke down.
Now, the group responsible for looking after Maple Creek wants answers from the city of Coquitlam about what caused the problem and why it took so long to get a response to a request for help.
When a similar problem occurred six years ago, the city responded immediately, said Maple Creek Watershed Streamkeepers president Sandra Budd.
The delay last week meant the creek went without water for a day, and perhaps longer, Budd said, and it was a dog-walker who noticed the dried up creek on Thursday.
Budd called the city and said several hours passed before a worker hooked up a hose to a fire hydrant at the junction of Tahsis and Ozada avenues to put water in the creek.
A different fire hydrant would have been better for the job, Budd said, but the city never called her back to exchange information, she said.
"What has changed since six years ago?" asked Budd, noting that it's the city's job to look after the pump since a subdivision was built over the Maple Creek headwaters about 29 years ago.
The pump collects water from an aquifer to keep Maple Creek flowing according to the city and was replaced Friday. A worker was dispatched to put some intermediary water into the creek.
"The city received a call on Thursday evening via our 24 hr Emergency Engineering line advising that the creek was running dry. Our operations crew was dispatched and onsite later that evening.They assessed that the old pump had failed and needed to be replaced. At that time, they did provide some intermediary water to the creek. They also ordered a new pump and, following delivery, had it installed and it was up and running by 9 p.m. on Friday night. Unfortunately, pumps do break down from time to time." stated Melony Burton, supervisor infrastructure management in an email statement.
Plans are also in the works to replace the pump with a diversion pipe to get water from the storm water system but Budd said that while that solution will prevent pump break downs, the location of the pipe is crucial so water from nearby gravel operations doesn't put sediment into the creek.
Although Maple Creek is small — it runs just 7 km from Coquitlam through to Port Coquitlam where it empties into the Coquitlam River — it still gets salmon fry to release each spring from Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Typically, the creek produces six species of salmon each year, despite its small size.
But most will have died from this year's release and Budd expects poor salmon returns when the spawning generation of coho would have returned in two years.
"We lost an entire cycle, a lot of work wasted," she said.
