Category: Environmental Services

From 2007 to 2008, Archipelago provided key input on the design and implementation for shoreline rehabilitation on the Dockside Green development, and the adjacent Point Ellice Park waterfront.

Noted for its strict adherence to the principles of green building and sustainable design, Dockside Green is an award–winning 1,300,000–square–foot (120,000 m²) mixed–use community in Victoria, British Columbia. From 2007 to 2008, Archipelago helped to rehabilitate the shoreline along the Dockside Green development and the neighboring Point Ellice Park waterfront. The objectives of this rehabilitation included:

• Improve the park shoreline characteristics and ecological function
• Pilot the Green Shores rating system for a LEED platinum development
• Develop a shore design using a committed environmental design and construction team

Results:

• Remediation of a filled shore embankment with minimal hard shore construction
• Reconstruction of an intertidal pocket beach
• Incorporation of tidal pools into a rock headland feature
• Enhancement of relic intertidal marsh areas
• Removal of invasive species and planting of a functional marine riparian zone
• A construction team that recognizes the environmental values of their endeavors

Archipelago examined the unique challenges involved in providing an effective oil spill response within BC’s coastal and estuarine wetlands.

Although the risk of oil spills impacting British Columbia’s coastal marshes has been increasing (due in part to increased marine traffic), the assessment of oil spill impacts and treatment options for British Columbia’s coastal wetlands has largely been based upon knowledge of oil spills in wetlands outside of BC.

Upon identifying the need to improve oil spill response planning for BC coastal wetlands, Environment Canada invited Archipelago to explore the matter further. Archipelago was asked to produce an assessment that could help support oil spill response planning, countermeasure planning, and restoration strategies for BC’s coastal wetlands regions. (For more on this, see the 2006 report “Oil Spill Response for BC Coastal Wetlands“)

Key features:

• Develop a summary of BC wetland types relevant to different spill response challenges
• Review literature of oil spill impacts to coastal wetlands and assess applicability to BC
• Propose a technique for assessing characteristics of BC salt marsh vegetation species that could be used to assess sensitivities of BC sites and used in spill response planning

In 2014, Archipelago provided an environmental assessment for the marine component of a proposed natural gas transmission system planned for the northwest coast of British Columbia.

Spectra Energy has been establishing and operating natural gas pipelines throughout British Columbia for more than 50 years. Today the company moves more than 60% of the natural gas produced within BC. Most recently, Spectra Energy proposed a project to deliver gas from northeast British Columbia to a liquid natural gas (LNG) facility to be constructed near Prince Rupert.

Running approximately 860 kilometres in length, the Westcoast Connector Gas Transmission Project would accommodate two large-diameter pipelines, with a total design capacity of 8.4 billion cubic feet per day. Although most of the pipeline would be on land, up to 180 kilometers would run on the seabed of Portland Inlet and Chatham Sound off the northwest coast of British Columbia.

Archipelago was asked to provide the environmental assessment for the marine component of this project. This involved a thorough technical overview of marine resources and features along the marine portion of the pipeline, and the development of sound mitigation strategies to address the environmental interactions identified by the assessment.

During this process, Archipelago provided environmental information and advisement to the engineering design team, and consulted closely with First Nations representatives and other key stakeholders. The final report examined three main components: nearshore marine habitat and ecosystems; offshore marine habitat and ecosystems; and seabed sediment and related water quality.

In November 2014, Spectra Energy’s Westcoast Connector Gas Transmission project received its Environmental Assessment Certificate from the Government of British Columbia.

Archipelago continues to work with the project team to address the specific conditions of this certificate, while preparing for the construction and operational monitoring program to follow.

As part of a biodiversity monitoring and assessment project near the site of a proposed liquefied natural gas export facility, Archipelago introduced a plan to monitor the health of nearby juvenile salmon communities.

When preparing to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility at Bish Cove, near Kitimat, British Columbia, Chevron Canada and Apache Canada initiated a Biodiversity Monitoring and Assessment Program (BMAP) to gather information about the status and trends of habitats, ecosystems and species at that location before, during and after construction.

As one of the BMAP member organizations (along with the University of Northern British Columbia’s Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Institute, and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for Conservation, Education and Sustainability), Archipelago was invited to design and implement two research protocols: an Eelgrass Community Monitoring Program, and a Juvenile Salmon Monitoring Program.

Juvenile salmon monitoring program

The first objective of the Juvenile Salmon Monitoring Program was to determine the current distribution and habitat use of juvenile pink and chum salmon, and their potential predators in Bish Cove. Secondly the program needed to develop methodologies to sample light levels in the nearshore environment, and assess the effects of the in-water structures on migratory routing direction and behaviour. To assess these factors, Archipelago employed a range of survey methods:

• Beach seine surveys
• Purse seine surveys
• Hook-and-line surveys
• Avian and mammal point count surveys and opportunistic sightings
• Above water visual surveys (boat-based surveys)
• Below water visual surveys (camera trap)
• Water quality, with respect to light levels (auto-logging light data loggers)

The Juvenile Salmon Monitoring Program was successfully implemented and completed in 2013, and a second year of data collection was completed in 2014.

In achieving these goals, the Juvenile Salmon Monitoring Program provides value-added information that could help identify improved methods for protecting juvenile salmon in nearshore industrial development areas. More specifically, this information will be used to examine whether the effects of overwater structures (shading and artificial light) significantly reduce the survival of the juvenile chum and pink salmon that use the cove during outmigration.

For more information on this project, visit the Chevron Canada Kitimat LNG project page. 

When preparing to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility near Kitimat, British Columbia, Chevron Canada worked with Archipelago to implement a long term marine monitoring program.

In 2012, Chevron Canada and Apache Canada announced a joint venture to build and operate a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility at Bish Cove, near the Port of Kitimat, British Columbia. As part of a shared commitment to minimize any impact on the environment during the construction of this facility, Chevron Canada and Apache Canada stipulated that the project be developed with “world class” environmental monitoring and assessment practices designed to exceed the regulatory requirements of the Canadian and provincial governments.

In preparation for this project, Archipelago developed and implemented an ecosystem health assessment that would help the project team understand and benchmark the health of the local marine ecosystem prior to development. This program was successfully completed in 2013.

Long term marine monitoring program

In 2014, this earlier assessment served as a baseline for a long term marine monitoring program centering around the collection and analysis of synoptic water, sediment, and biota quality data in Bish Cove, Emsley Cove (as a reference site), Kitimat Arm, and two nearby creeks. This process involved a range of assessments:

• Physical and chemical water quality (water sampling, CTD profiling, subsurface moored autologging data loggers)
• Physical and chemical sediment quality (Van Veen and Ponar grab sampling)
• Sedimentation rates and sources (sediment traps and isotope analysis)
• Shoreline changes (intertidal biophysical surveys and sediment sampling)
• Biotic tissue quality
• Benthic infauna community composition and diversity (Van Veen grab sampling)
• Eelgrass bed area, distribution, shoot density, and relative productivity (towed underwater video and SCUBA dive surveys)
• Nearshore fish community composition and diversity (beach seine and purse seine surveys)
• Creek health (water and sediment hand grab sampling and kicknet biota sampling pursuant to CABIN protocol)

Throughout the long term marine monitoring program, Archipelago maintained an emphasis on being responsive and adaptive to project changes and/or annual monitoring results to ensure the most appropriate suite of indicators was being monitored. Information collected during subsequent years of monitoring would serve as the basis for adaptive management planning during construction and operation of the new facility.

For more information on this project, visit the Chevron Canada Kitimat LNG project page. 

As part of a biodiversity monitoring and assessment project near the site of a proposed liquefied natural gas export facility, Archipelago introduced a plan to monitor the health of nearby eelgrass communities over time.

When preparing to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility at Bish Cove, near Kitimat, British Columbia, Chevron Canada and Apache Canada initiated a Biodiversity Monitoring and Assessment Program (BMAP) to gather information about the status and trends of habitats, ecosystems and species at that location before, during and after construction.

As one of the BMAP member organizations (along with the University of Northern British Columbia’s Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Institute, and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for Conservation, Education and Sustainability), Archipelago was invited to design and implement two research protocols: an Eelgrass Community Monitoring Program, and a Juvenile Salmon Monitoring Program.

Monitoring the eelgrass community

The objective of the Eelgrass Community Monitoring Program was to assess the status, trends, and natural variation of the Bish Cove eelgrass bed, along with any associated ecosystem functions, organisms, and environmental variables critical for its survival.

Based on this, Archipelago could then determine potential changes or effects to the distribution, productivity, and ecological value of the eelgrass bed that may result from the construction and operation of the new facility. This program involved a range of environmental assessments:

• Eelgrass bed area and distribution (towed underwater video)
• Eelgrass bed shoot density and relative productivity (SCUBA dive surveys)
• Water quality with respect to light and turbidity (subsurface moored auto-logging light and water quality data loggers)
• Benthic infauna community composition and diversity (Van Veen grab sampling)
• Physical and chemical sediment quality (Van Veen and Ponar grab sampling)
• Additional data collected from the Bish Cove Marine Monitoring Program (including sedimentation rates and sources, physical and chemical water quality, nearshore fish community composition and diversity)

The Eelgrass Community Monitoring Program was successfully implemented and completed in 2013, as was the second year of data collection in 2014.

While providing valuable insight into the relationship between the eelgrass bed and the marine facilities at Bish Cove, the Eelgrass Community Monitoring Program could also help support future efforts to conserve eelgrass bed integrity and function in other areas of industrial development.

For more information on this project, visit the Chevron Canada Kitimat LNG project page. 

Archipelago in partnership with SNC Lavalin was contracted to help design, construct, and monitor three new rocky reefs planned for Greater Victoria’s Esquimalt Harbour.

With a natural habitat bank planned for Greater Victoria’s Esquimalt Harbour, Archipelago in partnership with SNC Lavalin—was contracted by the Department of National Defence (CFB Esquimalt) to facilitate the project from an environmental perspective. This involved identifying the best locations for three rocky reefs, creating a design for each of the structures, and monitoring the construction and colonization of the new reefs.

To identify feasible locations for the new reefs, Archipelago incorporated underwater dive and towed–video surveys, habitat feature mapping, and wind and wave–modeling techniques (the latter of which was completed by SNC Lavalin).

SNC Lavalin then produced the conceptual designs for the three rocky reefs, and Archipelago monitored the marine environment during construction to identify any risks or impacts to the environment, and after construction to assess the colonization of the new rocky reefs.

The site locations within Esquimalt Harbour presented a range of challenges as the site depth, wave exposure, substrate characteristics, and valued eelgrass habitats all had to be considered, along with the risk of navigational hazards within this busy harbour. Additionally, the short timeline for completion—from initial survey to conceptual design—presented an additional constraint, demanding a timely response throughout all aspects of the project.

Upon the project’s completion in 2012, Archipelago again used underwater dive surveys to assess the colonization of the new reefs. Within less than a year, the rocky reefs had become home to a diversity of algae and kelp, invertebrates, and fish, signifying that the reefs were beginning to function as intended.

When the City of Victoria moved to halt seawall erosion and re-nourish the beach along the historic Ross Bay waterfront, Archipelago joined the project to help minimize any impact from construction, and assess the restoration of habitat above and below the tide line over the long term.

Located along the south coast of Victoria, British Columbia, the Ross Bay seawall was built in 1911 to protect the historic Ross Bay Cemetery from erosion caused by waves pounding against the shoreline. To halt the encroachment and protect the cemetery, a recurved concrete seawall designed to redirect the wave energy was constructed. Shore–side graves were relocated, and Dallas road, which had originally diverted traffic north around the cemetery, was extended the length of the shoreline between the seawall and the cemetery.

Though protecting the cemetery from further erosion, the seawall introduced problems of its own. The action of the waves relentlessly scoured the beach at the base of the seawall, and storms brought waves and logs crashing across the road, requiring temporary road closures and removal of debris afterwards.

Over the decades, city crews tended to the ongoing erosion of the seawall toe, and continually repaired failures of the aging concrete along its length, but over 80 years, one to two metres of beach was eroded away from the toe of the seawall. By 1990, the intertidal beach had disappeared completely.

In 1993, a larger concrete seawall was installed along a portion of the shoreline, replacing the curved backwall with a deeper, stepped design intended to accommodate foot traffic along the esplanade. While the angular structure proved popular with runners, walkers, and beach goers, nearby residents noted increased noise and vibration.

In an effort to identify a practical, yet environmentally sensitive solution, city planners contacted Vancouver–based Sandwell Engineering, and Archipelago of Victoria. After examining the problem and experimenting with detailed physical modeling, Sandwell’s coastal engineers recommended a three–part plan: raise the approach to the wall with gravel and beach fill; establish a series of perpendicular groynes jutting into the bay to reduce erosion of beach surfaces; and implement a program of long–term monitoring to determine whether erosion had decreased, while assessing the restoration of habitat above and below the tide line.

Archipelago habitat biologists evaluated potential impacts to eelgrass habitat, crab population, and juvenile fish, and adopted a series of mitigating strategies to minimize any negative impacts from construction, while ensuring the preservation and well–being of the nearshore community. In addition, Archipelago worked with Sandwell and the City of Victoria to design a long–term monitoring plan that would assess the efficacy of the gravel fill design.

Phase 1 began in 1995, during which 19,000 tonnes of gravel was placed in front of the wall to raise the existing beach to the top of the lower step on the reconstructed seawall. In 1998, Phase 2 added 60,000 tonnes of gravel beach fill to the mid and eastern part of the bay, three large rock groynes (installed perpendicular to shore) to help keep the gravel in place, and a habitat berm situated parallel to shore.

Now more than two decades on, long–term monitoring has confirmed the success of this process. While the re–nourished beach has met the design objective of protecting the seawall, erosion has virtually ceased; in fact, gravel was found to be moving onshore at a slightly higher rate than anticipated—eliminating the need to replenish gravel at a later date.

Rocky areas have since regenerated, and as a result, offshore rock sills have proven to be excellent habitat for bladed kelp and bull kelp. Home to gulls, otters, blue herons and more, the Ross Bay seafront is a popular destination year round for residents and visitors alike.

For more information on this or similar projects, contact Archipelago.