Ch’ḵw’elhp-Gibson Creek Restoration
Summer 2026 Update:
Years in the making, and it is finally happening!
Construction permits for the Ch'ḵw'elhp-Gibson Creek restoration project were approved in July for the 2026 summer fish window, and in-stream construction began on August 10.
It has been a busy summer on the creek, and it is coming together beautifully.
We have an incredible team on site, including Squamish Nation, the Ministry of Transportation and Transit, consultants PGL and Triton, Husband Contracting and the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association. This collaborative partnership is truly inspirational.
Week one was all site prep. Fish salvage, fencing, clearing access and staging areas, wildlife and bird surveys, and tree protection audits. 130 fish were salvaged from the lower section, including cutthroat trout, coho, and sculpin, and are now safe and sound upstream beyond the culvert. In-stream construction work began in week two and has steadily progressed.
Fish salvage is being monitored daily, with extra checks after rain events. The weather has mostly cooperated, and the team has been on site every day working to complete this important work. The first two pool-and-riffle sequences are largely complete, and crews are now working on the third riffle. Work is planned through September. Riparian restoration is set for the fall.
Community reception to this project has been wonderful, and we've seen far less unauthorized access to the site lately, which we sincerely appreciate.
Site access remains prohibited. This is an active construction zone with heavy equipment, open excavation, and unstable ground. It will stay dangerous and off-limits through the end of September. Please stay out for your own safety and to protect the work underway.
Video credits: Suzanne Senger
Fish Passage and Habitat Restoration
The Sunshine Coast Conservation Association is spearheading a pilot project to increase salmon habitat on the Sunshine Coast by removing barriers to fish passage and restoring fish habitat in small creeks on the lower Sunshine Coast.
The program's overall goal is to improve water quality, create new habitats, provide access to existing spawning and overwintering salmonid habitat, and restore damaged ecosystems.
In 2021, we partnered with the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), the BC Ministry of Transportation and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada to address extreme fish passage challenges and degraded habitat at the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw IR26 lands in the lowest reaches of Ch’ḵw’elhp-Gibson Creek.
Ch’ḵw’elhp-Gibson Creek
The Ch'ḵw'elhp Creek estuary is a deeply important site for the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw. Its significance is reflected in its establishment as a Reserve as early as the 1870s. Over the years, as we have worked alongside Sḵwx̱wú7mesh members, and on this project, our understanding of the significance of this site and their enduring connection to this place has grown, as has our respect and appreciateion for their culture and ancestral ties to this special place.
Ch’ḵw’elhp-Gibson Creek is a small salmon-bearing watercourse in Átl’ka7tsem Howe Sound, on the Sunshine Coast. It is one of five major creeks in the Átl’ka7tsem West Howe Sound Watershed Area(opens in new tab) and an important recharge zone for Aquifers 560 and 552 - key drinking water sources for the local community.
Ch’ḵw’elhp extends approximately 6.5 km from its headwaters on Mt. Elphinstone (~1170 m above sea level) to its mouth in West Howe Sound. The watershed includes about 300 hectares of forest on the slopes of Mt. Elphinstone, flowing from pristine old-growth forest through industrial and residential areas in West Howe Sound(SCRD) and the Town of Gibsons.
The creek flattens out in its last ~300 m and drains into Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) Ch’kw’elp Reserve before entering marine waters.
Three stormwater outfalls originating within the Town of Gibsons flow into the Creek upstream of the Che’kw’elp Reserve. The Reserve itself is divided by Marine Drive. The road and the culvert that accommodates the Creek are the jurisdiction and responsibility of BC’s Ministry of Transportation and Transit (MoTT).
Clearing of forested lands upstream in the watershed for logging, farming, road building, and eventually residential development has altered and increased streamflow in the creek - both in terms of quantity and timing. It is believed that the lowest reach now accommodates twice as much runoff as it did pre-development.
In 1930, the Department of Indian Affairs subdivided the entire length of the reserve lands below Maribe Drive into lots available for lease. Many of these lots were eventually built on by the settler community. The 'basement' of one house, near the mouth, actually spanned the creek channel itself. With the eventual expiry of these leases approximately twenty years ago, the cabins were torn down and removed, leaving the concrete foundations, walls and platforms that are still in place alongside and in the Creek today.
It is unclear whether the closed-bottom culvert installed under Marine Drive initially allowed for easy passage of Coho salmon. The culvert was installed without baffles, and over the years, its corroded bottom has been patched with concrete. A large boulder at the downstream end of the culvert further obstructs fish passage, making it difficult for returning salmon to jump into the culvert from the drop pool against the oncoming water flow. These conditions also complicate the management of extreme water flows and prevent salmon from reaching their spawning grounds, even if they do enter the culvert. Replacing this culvert is overdue.
Recent History
The SCCA Executive Director, Suzanne Senger, had a trusted relationship with Sḵwx̱wú7mesh elder Randall Lewis, built through their shared work on the Átl'ḵa7tsem/Howe Sound Biosphere Region. Randall, a former Environmental Coordinator for the Squamish Nation, was aware of the fish passage issue at the Ch'ḵw'elhp Reserve and had a design created to address it. He shared the plan with Suzanne and encouraged her to build a team to action it.
In 2021, the SCCA began convening a monthly working group, bringing together Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw, DFO and MoTT staff, local streamkeepers, and local governments, with support from the Squamish River Watershed Society. We enlisted experts and advisors and began the long work of cultivating relationships, bridging jurisdictions, and bringing the right people together to move a project forward.
That year, we also coordinated training for 10 volunteer streamkeepers on the reserve land, with permission from the nation, and established the "Friends of Ch'ḵw'elhp-Gibson Creek" streamkeepers group to monitor the creek. Since then, we have carried out monthly water quality monitoring, biannual fry counts, and autumn spawner counts. Survey results are entered into the provincial Pacific Streamkeepers Federation database, and spawner counts are also submitted to DFO.
From 2022 to 2025, the team and its expertise grew. We completed fish passage, habitat, and climate resiliency assessments; technical surveys; and archaeological assessments, and reviewed options to restore salmon passage and improve in-stream habitat. MoTT began developing a restoration project for the first leg of the creek.
In 2025, we worked with DFO to install a temporary fish ladder to ensure salmon passage while the team prepared for full creek restoration, and secured the funding to keep the work moving forward.
In 2026, the plan was finalized, MoTT funding was approved, permits were secured, and contracts were signed. Six years later, crews broke ground, with the whole table on site together to build it.
Collaboration, Volunteer & Community Support
This project is a full partnership with Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw and MoTT, with support from DFO, the Town of Gibsons, SCRD, the Sunshine Coast Streamkeepers Society, and the Squamish River Watershed Society.
Two key volunteers who make this project possible are the SCCA's Freshwater and Marine Liaisons, Dianne Sanford and Angela Kroning. As former Streamkeepers trainers, they share our long-term goal of ensuring that salmon-bearing waterways across the Sunshine Coast are monitored and maintained to the highest standards, for both salmon and people. They advise and mentor SCCA project lead, Suzanne Senger; participate in stewardship planning; share valuable background knowledge; and use their contacts to navigate the complexities of multi-jurisdictional watershed management.
Jim Wilson, Community Advisor with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, was DFO's consistent presence on this project for years, providing regulatory guidance and helping keep fish passage and salmon protection central to every stage of planning and construction.
The Sunshine Coast Streamkeepers Society (SCSS) is a local non-profit network affiliated with the province-wide Pacific Streamkeepers Federation, working to develop, train, and support stream-keeping groups and activities on the Sunshine Coast. SCSS focuses its energy on two main creeks, Roberts and Malcolm. Shirley Samples, the leader of the Society, participates in the Fish Passage and Habitat Restoration Program Working Group to collaborate with MoTT and DFO on a much-needed culvert replacement and habitat restoration at the first section of Malcolm Creek.
Edith Tobe, the Executive Director of the Squamish River Watershed Society, was an early member of this working group. Drawing on her long-standing relationship with the Squamish Nation, she developed an initial restoration plan for the creek that significantly influenced the project's direction. Edith continues to provide support and guidance if needed.
