The health of the Fraser River Delta in Canada requires monitoring and management, researchers warn

The Fraser River is unique among the great rivers of the world. This is the relatively natural, relatively natural, uncovered Mountain River running through densely populated urban areas.

However, a pair of SFU experts warns that lack of surveillance and poor management can threaten many of its natural biodiversity and its ability to respond to sea level rise, particularly as its SFU experts.

Shahin Dashtgard, professor at SFU Earth Sciences, was co-starring author in a recent paper in the Canadian Journal of Earth Science, which summarises the entire geological study of Fraser River Delta. He hopes the work will inform policy makers of how the delta will change in the future.

“My biggest concern is sediment management issues,” says Dashtgard. “I don’t think people understand how important sediment is. That’s invaluable to the long-term sustainability of the Delta as home to Metro Vancouver.

“The sediments carried to the rivers create natural barriers and allow the delta to naturally adapt to changes in sea levels. The rivers and deltas need to act naturally to some extent to maintain the environment and urban centre they currently have.”

Similarly, Jeremy Vendetti, a professor at SFU’s Faculty of Environmental Sciences and a geomorphologist who leads the university’s Institute of River Dynamics, identifies two threats to the Fraser River delta. The impact of development projects, the effects of hemming of river courses, and the lack of sediment descending from the mountains.

For the past 70 years, the deposit has been driered by the Fraser Delta, making sure the channels are compatible with the boat. The dredded sand is then sold as a fill for building projects.

“That deposit is extremely important for building the delta itself,” warns Dashtgard. “We are beginning to see that by not allowing them to reach the Delta front, the delta cannot accommodate the rate of sea level rise, slowly eroding salt marsh, which absorbs wave energy.”

The majority of the world’s population lives on the Delta River due to its abundant water and food resources. However, many of the world’s large deltas are intensively developed. For example, the Port of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port, is built on the Rhine Delta and is a maze of concrete channels that lack biodiversity.

“We need to start thinking about what kind of Fraser River we want,” says Vendetti. “I think people are grateful for the relatively natural part of the delta. It’s a great bird habitat and a fish habitat. So if it’s something like the delta we want, then we need to make a conscious decision to develop like that.”

Both highlight the need for a Fraser River Monitoring Centre to track sediment volume and distribution. This is essential for making informed decisions about delta management.

“We need a Fraser River Monitoring Centre,” Venditti said. “The climate is changing, sea levels are rising, and if you want to understand how rivers change in response to land use changes, climate change and anthropogenic effects, you need to know what the delta looks like before.

“It is the largest river in western Canada. It passes through the most densely packed communities in western Canada. It could not be accompanied by a surveillance centre. Are you reviewing real-time data from a group of scientists and thinking about how the topography is changing, how it moves around, how the sediment affects and affects biological populations?”

Dashtgard states, “The Fraser River and the Delta are important habitats for multiple ecosystems and maintain a large portion of Metro Vancouver. We take it for granted, in some cases through ignorance, but without a management strategy we put the long-term sustainability of what many of us call homes.”