The Mission Creek Restoration Initiative (MCRI) is a multi-stakeholder partnership formed in 2008 to address declining fish stocks and restore natural function to the lower reaches of Mission Creek, located in Kelowna, BC.
Phase I restoration began in 2015-2016 in a stretch of Mission Creek downstream of Casorso Road, where 540 m of the southern dike trail was setback. This setback resulted in 18,000 m2 floodplain re-engagement and side channel reconnection. In addition, habitat features were installed and four notch pools were excavated in left bank to re-meander the stream. Adaptive management occurred in 2018 to improve side channel flow patterns and remove accumulated sediment. In 2019, boulder clusters in two different formations were installed to direct flow into meander notch 2 and to increase habitat complexity.
Post-construction monitoring of fish habitat and site use has been conducted annually since 2016 to document effectiveness and inform adaptive management.
Read the report here: ONA_MCRI Effectiveness Monitoring 2019 FINAL
ONA is happy to continue working with the MCRI Steering Committee to bring back the health of Mission Creek. Many thanks to the Steering Committee:
- BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
- Central Okanagan Land Trust
- City of Kelowna
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- Friends of Mission Creek
- Okanagan Nation Alliance
- Regional District of Central Okanagan
- Westbank First Nation
The Okanagan Nation Alliance looks forward to continuing to document the successes and challenges of these projects as part of the larger vision of Okanagan Nation Elders in healing the watershed and kł cp̓əlk stim̓ – ’cause to come back’.