9 fast facts about work being done down at the Squamish Spit

It seems misinformation is swirling like the wind around the Squamish Spit.

To help combat rumours circulating online, the Squamish River Watershed Society has put out more background information and further clarification regarding the work being done near the popular windsports location.

Here are some fast facts on the restoration being done.

1. For the last five years, the Squamish River Watershed Society, Squamish Nation, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, has been assessing nine existing culverts in the training berm (Spit Road) to see if they are working to allow fish access to the estuary.

2. The assessments show that the culverts are not sufficiently allowing fish to move from the river into the estuary, the society says.

3. Fish, in particular, juvenile chinook, are instead being flushed into the deep ocean, impacting their survival rates.

"When compared with other to other estuaries, the presence of fish in the Squamish Estuary is devastatingly low despite considerable and ongoing efforts to restore access and habitat since the 1970s," reads the update from the society.

4. Since 2017, when the SRWS received funding from the government to improve the fish access, stakeholders have been planning and implementing the Central Estuary Restoration Project.

5. Phase 1 of the project is currently underway. It includes upgrading an existing damaged 1.2-metre culvert with a 3 m by 3 m box culvert, approximately halfway down Spit Road.

Excavation of the existing road and culvert, culvert placement, reinstatement of the road surface, placement of rip-rap on the estuary and riversides of the structure and re-vegetation of the area are all part of the project.

"This work will improve the surface water flows between the estuary and river that is necessary to accommodate fish access, as the existing culvert can be perched or inundated depending on tidal fluctuations," the society says.

6. The work is being done within bi-weekly low tide cycles.

7. Between April-May 2019 Spit Road will be partially and fully closed to traffic. The work will continue through June.

8. Fisheries and Oceans staff are supervising the project.

9. More information and up to date notices are posted at www.squamishwatershed.com.