September 29, 2005
Autumn Rain Roars Down Byrne Creek
The first autumn rain of the season in the lower mainland of BC roared through Byrne Creek overnight and all day today, turning a trickle into a near-flood.
The heavy autumn rains are a blessing and a curse -- a blessing for they bring salmon back to spawn, and a curse because the development of the watershed has decimated forests and wetlands, resulting in destructive flows into the creek.
Of all the rain that falls on southeast Burnaby, less and less penetrates the ground each year, and more is directed by the storm drain system directly into the creek.
Here are a few photos of the creek taken this morning.
Here's the creek at the base of the stairs that go down into the ravine from Brynlor Dr. Yesterday this was a series of shallow pools with riffles only a few centimeters deep.
And this is the footbridge. I hopped across the creek in this vicinity yesterday in my hiking boots, easily stepping from stone to stone in shallow water.
This is the sediment pond that collects gravel and sediment during heavy flows. The culvert in the background that passes under Southridge Dr. is usually completely visible to the bottom, with only a few centimeters of water flowing. My wife Yumi was standing on a bar in the pond a few meters downstream of the cement block in the middle of the photo two days ago!
This is a new culvert being installed beneath 18th Ave. in the upper watershed. Streamkeepers and the city engineering department have been keeping a close eye on it because the construction is going on outside the usual "window" for such work. Normally in-creek work should not be underway now due to the onset of the salmon spawning season.