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The study location is known as Miracle Valley, sometimes also referred to as Upper Hatzic Valley that extends from Lagace Creek at the south to the Stave Lake reservoir at the north. The valley is bounded by steep mountainous terrain to the east and west.
Land use in the area is predominantly forest, accompanied by rural residential and low-intensity agricultural uses. Ground elevations within the area rise abruptly north of Durieu Road and then plateau and begin to decline at Stave Lake.
As per data from the nearest climate monitoring station—courtesy of Environment Canada—the area receives approximately 1,808mm of precipitation annually with approximately 68% of the total annual precipitation falls between the months of October and March (Government of Canada, 2018).
The watercourses included in the study include Lagace Creek that crosses the south end of the Valley that obtains flows from tributaries to the west. (i.e. Belcharton Creek, Durieu Creek, Oru Creek, and Seux Brook). The tributary creeks are incised into steep-sided ravines and are declared to be largely spring-fed, due to relatively constant flows throughout the year (Piteau Associates Engineering Ltd., 2012).
A reconnaissance site visit was completed on May 15, 2018 from 08:00 to 15:35. The weather was predominantly sunny with about 20% cloud cover and a temperature ranging from approximately 9 to 21 degrees Celsius throughout the day.
Observations:
- Note: Groundwater fed creeks
- algal growth observed in Seux Brook in abundance prior to confluence of Seux Brook and Oru Creek
- No algal growth observed in Legace Creek, Belcharton Creek, Oru Creek or Durieu Creek
- No moss present on trees within immediate proximity of Legace Creek
- Significant stream bank vegetation growth observed on Belcharton Creek
- Heavy amounts of moss present on trees surrounding Durieu Creek
- Clusters of moss present on trees surrounding Belcharton Creek
- Variety of avian species and squirrels observed around Oru Creek
- Water seepage observed in area around Durieu Creek.
- Grasses growing in and along stream bank of Seux Brook
- Flow discharges (highest to lowest) Legace, Belcharton, Oru, Durieu, Seux
- Durieu Creek and Legace Creek bed heavily cobbled, turbulent flows
- Seux Brook and Oru Creek observed relatively laminar flows
- Seux Brook bed silt and clay
- Seux Brook is partially shaded prior to confluence with Oru Creek
- Oru Creek is not shaded at all
- Durieu Creek is heavily shaded
- Belcharton and Legace Creek are shaded in sections throughout water course
May 15 Field Notes Page 1 May 15 Field Notes Page 2 May 15 Field Notes page 3
Questions that could be proposed from the observation is:
- Is the location of moss growth on trees an accurate way to determine cardinal direction?
- Does water depth influence algal/vegetation growth?
- Does flow regime influence algal/vegetation growth?
- Does the extent of cobbles within creek beds influence algal/vegetation growth?
- How does the weather (i.e. sunlight and temperature) influence algal/vegetation growth?
- Does the flow regime and water depth change due to seasonality and weather?
PHOTOS:
REFERENCES:
Government of Canada. (2018, April 24). Station Results – Historical Data. Retrieved from Government of Canada: http://climate.weather.gc.ca/historical_data/search_historic_data_stations_e.html?StationID=702&Day=20&timeframe=1&type=line&MeasTypeID=dptemp&Month=7&Year=2016&searchType=stnProx&txtRadius=25&optProxType=navLink&txtLatDecDeg=49.025277777778&txtLongDecDeg
Piteau Associates Engineering Ltd. (2012). MISSION HYDROGEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION FOR GROUNDWATER SUPPLY MIRACLE VALLEY, B.C. North Vancouver: Piteau Associates Engineering Ltd.
