Lawson Creek Fish Ladder

Client: West Vancouver Stream Keepers
Location:  West Vancouver, BC
Timeframe:  February 2015 – Oct 2016

Lawson Creek is a 7.5 km long watercourse that originates on Hollyburn Ridge and Discharges into Burrard Inlet in West Vancouver. Like many urban streams, Lawson Creek faces many challenges such as channelization, fluctuating flows regimes and barriers to fish passage. Lawson Creek is Culverted from Duchess Avenue to Bellevue Avenue (220 m). While adult salmonids are able to navigate through the long culvert, steep infrastructure at the inlet precluded access above Duchess Avenue. In the early 2000’s a temporary fish ladder was installed at this location but was limited in terms of providing fish passage.

In 2015, Sartori Environmental worked collaboratively with the West Vancouver Stream Keepers and District of West Vancouver to improve fish access on Lawson Creek above Duchess Avenue. Sartori provided:

• Preliminary assessments
• Conceptual fish ladder design
• Regulatory approvals and liaison
• Environmental Monitoring during construction