From our research using interviews, government reports, non-governmental organization (NGO) documents, newspaper articles, and the Vancouver archives, we found three main reasons that lead to how Still Creek was restored and why:
- Firstly to answer how the creek was restored so that salmon were able to return, governmental bodies, NGOs, and institutions came together to make hydrological and ecological improvements to create healthy habitats and fish access. This coordination was incredibly important and allowed for shared knowledge, resources, and skills.
- Secondly, we saw that the reason why this was so successful was because of community engagement, a key requirement by many river restoration experts and the catalyst that invoked governmental bodies to take action and become more involved.
- Thirdly, the desired goal of the salmon returning also allowed people to understand the purpose of the river restoration and provided a symbol that inspired people to rally behind. Salmon spawning is a visible, tangible result that also changes each year and depends on consistent monitoring and further changes so that people cannot have amnesia and take the river restoration for granted.
To combine these reasons we see that Still Creek was restored because of the coming together of many different disciplines and stakeholders, including the local community, with the purpose of improving habitat for the salmon (Image 1).
Firstly, the actual physical processes that allowed for the salmon to return and for the river to return were a result of governmental groups, NGOs, institutions, and community groups coming together to make river improvements governed by theories of river restoration that included ecology, hydrology, and community needs such as recreation (Figure 1). Many of the restoration activities were based off of the 2001 Brunette Basin Watershed Plan and the 2002 City of Vancouver Still Creek Rehabilitation and Enhancement Study and subsequent studies that approached the restoration work as a means to mediate impacts of urbanization, the main cause of degradation. The riparian zone was restored at many locations along the creek, particularly at Renfrew Ravine, by City planning departments and organizations like Still Moon Arts Society. Pulling invasive plants, planting local plants, and removing garbage improves the riparian zone and filters pollutants, provides natural habitat for species, and cools the water and reduces volumes of water entering the river from runoff and stormwater lines (City of Vancouver, 2002; Still Moon Arts Society, 2010).
Additional measures were taken to reduce pollutants by encouraging people living close to the waterway to stop using chemicals on their lawn and for cleaning cars which would runoff into the creek (Rosen, personal communication, 2017). Other pollutants were reduced through the City of Vancouver’s improvements to stormwater management such as installing stormwater retention-infiltration structures, reducing impervious surfaces, repairing sewage lines, and building swales, with country lanes also proposed as a means to prevent polluted runoff entering the creek (2006; 2017). Salmon were able to enter the stream after the water quality improved from these actions and from fish ladders built by community groups. One surprise was the involvement of corporations such as the TI Corporation who redid the Highway #1 as part of the Gateway Project as recommended by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Coulter-Boisvert, 2017) that allowed the salmon to cross to Still Creek. Thus, from water quality improvements and improving fish access, the salmon were able to return and have continued to spawn every fall since 2012.
All of these improvements could not have happened without collaboration amongst groups and the efforts of the local communities. The organizations involved (Figure 2) include Still Moon Arts Society, Evergreen, Silva Forest Foundation, and other organizations, as well as the City of Vancouver, the City of Burnaby, the Vancouver office of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, schools, and even corporations. Many river restoration theorists note the importance of multiple disciplines coming together for effective river restoration, and acknowledge the necessity of communities being involved as well (Palmer and Bernhardt, 2006; Wolh et al., 2015). Although river conservationists like Mark Angelo have been advocating for Still Creek since the 1970’s, as Angelo reports, working for Still Creek was “a lonely exercise at that time” because many people viewed the creek as a “lost cause” due to pollution (personal communication, 2017).
“…the Renfrew Ravine has always been sort of loved and feared, like loved by the kids and feared by the parents…There was a dynamic community committee that was prompted in ‘96 because the neighbours were fighting over different things and they realized that the one thing we all agreed about is that the Ravine was a mess, let’s clean it up.”
– Carmen Rosen, Still Moon Arts Society
In the mid-1990’s, artist Carmen Rosen noticed that people in Renfrew Ravine were afraid of the creek because of the pollution and stories of children getting diseases from the water (personal communication, 2017). To combat this fear, she organized community events like garbage clean-up days and an annual lantern festival (Figure 3), which led to people viewing the creek as a benefit not a danger (ibid). Her work timed perfectly with general trends towards viewing urban rivers as a resource that can be used to improve the quality of life of those living around it, as well as moves towards protecting habitat of species (City of Vancouver, 2002), corroborated by the increase in governmental reports on Still Creek at this time. Many people interviewed emphasize the importance of community involvement in encouraging governments and other organizations to get involved and citizens drove restoration work and monitoring efforts (Coulter-Boisvert; Rosen; Angelo; MacDonald, personal communications, 2017).
Finally, the importance of salmon is something that anyone can understand and get inspired about. The return of salmon are a tangible result of restoration and as shown from the community art (Image 2), have become a symbol of hope for those working on the restoration. As stated previously, the salmon were able to return after the water quality and fish access were improved, and improving salmon access is something that anyone can be involved in. Still Moon Arts Society and other organizations involved local volunteers in building fish ladders (Rosen, personal communication, 2017) The symbol of the salmon and the collaboration of different stakeholders and communities truly answers the “why” of how the creek was restored and provides key insight to other groups that want to restore rivers elsewhere.
