If you’re thinking of power washing that deck or refilling the pool, be careful.
What you dump down your storm drain or wash off your driveway could kill baby salmon.
At least that’s the advice after dozens of fish fry were killed in a Coquitlam creek last week after someone dumped chemicals down a storm drain or washed their deck or driveway with a powerful bleaching compound.
The substance believed to have killed the fish April 12 is chlorine, but because the chemical dispersed quickly, the culprit is not exactly known.
Now volunteers with the Hoy Scott Watershed Society hope a community education effort takes hold as spring cleaning ramps up and thousands of homeowners tackle house and car projects during the pandemic.
“Education is so important because whether the storm drain has a fish on it or not, people just think this hole on the street is a garbage place,” said Robbin Whachell, president of the Hoy/Scott Watershed Society.
For Whachell, getting the message out now about how to protect fish-bearing streams is key but she said people also need constant reminders that what they dump outdoors tends to end up in salmon habitat.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has released a document called Home Tips for Healthy Streams that lists dozens of things people can do to keep their local waterways pristine, along with phone numbers to call if they see a problem.
It’s available here:
Last week’s fish kill was located near Hialeah Court and Woodbine Place. It comes less than a year after an even larger toxic event killed thousands of coho salmon fry at the group’s Coqutilam hatchery.
Whachell said volunteers are preparing to release the remaining coho smolts, about 2,700 of them, into the creek for their journey into the ocean, so efforts need to be made now to keep chemicals out of the local creeks.
Residents can also get involved directly if they want to keep their stream healthy.
The Hoy/Scott Watershed Society is holding a virtual annual general meeting on May 20, using Zoom, and a number of director and executive positions will be filled.
However, a salmon release event typically held in May has been cancelled.
For more information, visit here.
