What happens when a creek runs dry, and the fish that call it home can no longer make their way upstream?
For the team at Tenderfoot Creek Hatchery in Squamish, it’s a challenge they’re tackling head-on as the impacts of climate change ripple through the watershed.
While many hatcheries focus on large-scale harvests, Tenderfoot Creek is all about conservation.
“We focus on conservation and rebuilding stocks, which is pretty unique,” said Jordan Uittenbogaard, the hatchery watershed enhancement manager. “Our goal is to boost survival rates and ensure more salmon return to spawn.”
It’s a straightforward process on paper––collect salmon returning to spawn in low-population areas, fertilize their eggs, and rear them until they’re ready to be released back into the wild.
But with unpredictable rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, and flooding in the Sea to Sky, the seven-person team at Tenderfoot Creek has had to adapt in big ways.
Fighting drought with new systems and plans
“One of our biggest challenges in recent years has been drought,” Uittenbogaard said. “It’s a significant issue—not just for Tenderfoot Hatchery but also for others.
“We rely on two water sources: a shallow infiltration gallery pump and a deeper well. The gallery pump is more cost-efficient, and we prefer using it as costs are rising.”
However, due to hot, dry summers, the groundwater table has been dropping year after year.
“This means the water level is now below the pump line, so we can’t use that equipment anymore,” said Uittenbogaard.
Over the last 100 years, average temperatures in British Columbia have gone up by about 1.4°C, according to the British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy.
This has changed how and when it rains or snows, and it has also led to less snow building up in the mountains.
When asked how long the groundwater had been above the pump line, Uittenbogaard explained, “It was usually always above the pump line. It’s only in the past 10 years or so that we’ve seen the groundwater table drop so drastically that we can’t use the pump anymore.”
Why is this such a challenge? Uittenbogaard broke it down.
“In a hatchery, having redundancy in pumps is crucial. If one pump fails, salmon need water immediately—especially at critical life stages.”
“If there’s no water for even 20 minutes, you could lose all of the salmon.”
“Additionally, relying on deep wells is significantly more expensive to operate, which is a concern in today’s economy.”
To mitigate this issue, the hatchery received significant investment to upgrade its infrastructure.
“Specifically, we twinned the lines leading to the aeration tower. It’s a bit technical, but essentially, we had two deep wells connected to a single line, which limited our capacity.”
Upgrades completed in late 2023 involved adding a separate line for each well, allowing the hatchery to run both wells simultaneously.
“Now, during drought conditions when we can’t use the infiltration gallery pumps, we can rely entirely on the deep wells to run the hatchery. This was a major project that took about four to five months to complete,” Uittenbogaard said.
Flooding: a dual threat to salmon
Flooding hasn’t been a major issue for the hatchery itself because of its location.
“We’re a bit removed from the river’s edge, situated on Tenderfoot Creek, and the facility was built up to protect it from flooding,” Uittenbogaard said.
That said, it does have a large storage area near the groundwater table that can flood during heavy rain events.
“For example, during the atmospheric river in 2021, that storage area did flood, but we keep all sensitive equipment in elevated areas, so the impact was minimal,” said Uittenbogaard.
While the hatchery may be safe, flooding significantly impacts wild salmon populations.
“Big floods move gravel dramatically, which can kill eggs and alevins in the gravel. These events harm salmon populations,” Uittenbogaard said.
To counter this, the hatchery has a program specifically for pink salmon.
“Floods tend to affect pink salmon the most because they are shallow spawners,” he explained.
“Our pink salmon program involves collecting over a million pink salmon eggs each cycle to use as a backup in case of severe flooding. This ensures that we can support the salmon population through these challenging events.”
Preparing for fires
In 2023, all salmon enhancement programs, including hatcheries and spawning channels, underwent a fire audit by a third party.
According to Uittenbogaard, Tenderfoot Creek Hatchery performed well in the audit, but some upgrades were still required to reduce wildfire risks.
“We added fire suppression equipment, cleared the perimeter of the site, and removed wooden structures, like a deck, to reduce fire risk,” Uittenbogaard said.
These measures were funded through the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI), a program providing resources to address environmental impacts from floods, fires, and droughts.
Partnering with the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation
The hatchery’s success is thanks in part to its partnership with the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), Uittenbogaard said.
Together, they’ve worked on projects like turning an old lawn into a pond that provides a safe space for young coho salmon during droughts.
“That pond used to be a lawn where staff had to cut grass. During droughts, the natural lake would dry up, leading to the loss of thousands of coho fry rearing there.
“We collaborated with the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation to secure funding and redesign the area.”
“Together, we dug a deeper pond—about 10 feet or two metres deeper than the original lake—and added vegetation to naturalize it. This pond now acts as a refuge for fry during droughts, helping us save thousands of fish.”
The hatchery also works closely with the Nation’s Natural Resources fisheries department.
Despite all the challenges, Uittenbogaard is constantly inspired by the salmon themselves.
“You’d think these big environmental changes would wipe out salmon populations,” he said.
“But they keep coming back. It’s amazing to see how resilient they are.”
Uittenbogaard hopes more locals will get involved in helping salmon.
He pointed to groups like the Squamish River Watershed Society and Squamish Streamkeepers, which do habitat restoration and education work.
“Volunteering with these organizations is a great way to make a difference,” he said.
He also invites the community to visit the hatchery to learn more about salmon.
“When people learn about salmon and their importance, it usually leads to respect and a better understanding of why we need to protect them,” he said.
“We’re doing everything we can to protect these fish,” Uittenbogaard said. “It’s all about giving them a fighting chance for the future.”
Bhagyashree Chatterjee is The Squamish Chief’s Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
