- Responsibilities of the Early Works Contractor and any third parties;
- Implementation of best management practices such as, but not limited to: control of water from dewatering operations, erosion and sediment control, spill response; and
- Reporting requirements and communication expectations.
1.3 FISHERIES PLAN GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
- Impacts to fish and fish habitat associated with the Project will be minimized to the greatest extent possible / feasible. Where environmental impacts cannot be avoided, mitigation and / or offsetting strategies will be employed.
- To provide detailed best management practices and mitigation requirements specifically relating to proposed work and construction methodology for the Healy Drain.
- To provide a list of general best management practices and mitigations that should be applied to all watercourses within the Project limits unless stated otherwise.
- To fulfill requirements for the development of a specific Fisheries Plan established under the BSTA and in addition, ensure that other relevant legislation is adhered to.
2. EXISTING CONDITIONS
2.1
HEALY DRAIN EXISTING CONDITIONS
This watercourse is listed as a type F municipal drain, indicating that it is intermittent. The temperature regime and potential fish species are unknown. Field investigations conducted in 2010 by MH determined that this watercourse is likely intermittent as there was no flow, and only standing pools of water. The overall gradient of the watercourse appears to be low (0.3 - 0.5 %), there is no riffle-pool sequencing in this channel as it has been highly altered through ditching efforts. The channel substrates are comprised of clay and muck. The low water velocities and the dense pockets of phragmites throughout the channel allow for fine sediment in this channel to settle out of suspension. It is unlikely that that this watercourse supports a fish community even when flows in the Detroit River are high enough to fill the drain. The blocked culvert under Sandwich Street is also a barrier to fish movement to areas upstream. During the investigations competed by MH in 2010, no flows were observed and no fish species were observed in Healy Drain. These existing conditions have been obtained from the Fish and Fish Habitat Existing Conditions and Impact Assessment Report for Broadway and Healy Drain Report (MH, 2011).
LGL also completed a field investigations of this site in 2006 and determined that the reach of Healy Drain from the Detroit River upstream to Sandwich Street was seasonal fish habitat, even though there is no direct connection to the Detroit River. LGL also acknowledged that Healy Drain east of Sandwich Street was not considered fish habitat due to the blocked culvert acting as a physical barrier to fish under Sandwich Street as noted above.