The search for a species of minnow known as the redside dace in West Garafraxa is going to cost Centre Wellington $95,586 over the next four years.
On March 19, the township’s committee of the whole endorsed the approval of the single-source bid for environmental monitoring in connection with bridge “27-WG” on Sideroad 20, to AECOM Canada Ltd. for $95,586 exclusive of HST.
The company will provide the monitoring as required by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) using DNA sampling to satisfy requirements in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) permit issued by MNRF.
AECOM’s asset management and capital project manager Stephanie Rossi provided a detailed background of the company’s involvement and what the continued monitoring of Irvine Creek would entail.
The company has provided environmental consulting services for this project since 2010, including:
– background information reviews;
– ecological field surveys;
– technical reports;
– regulatory applications and procurement of permits;
– review of engineering drawings and provision of environmental mitigation measures;
– development of landscape restoration plans; and
– speciality environmental construction monitoring and associated agency reporting.
The redside dace fish is protected under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and the ESA. The MNRF permit requires a five-year monitoring program to be implemented.
Application of “eDNA” methods will result in cost savings as compared to traditional fish sampling survey methods alone, Rossi said.
She said the redside dace was last seen in this section of Irvine Creek over 15 years ago.
Rossi said the agreement allowing replacement of the 100-year-old bridge over the creek required the township to monitor the creek.
Triton Engineering had hired AECOM as an environmental consultant on the project. Once the bridge is completed later this year, Triton’s role wraps up, but monitoring is required for another four years, Rossi said. The eDNA sampling will occur at 14 locations along the creek. Those samples will be tested at the University of Guelph. As a backup, more traditional samplings will be undertaken.
“This sampling will be able to conclusively verify if the redside dace still continues to be present in this stretch of Irvine Creek,” said Rossi.
Councillor Kirk McElwain asked, “Are we just undertaking research on the redside dace for the MNRF? It has nothing to do with benefits to Centre Wellington.”
Rossi agreed it is essentially MNRF research on whether the redside side still exists, since the last sighting was 15 years ago. However, she also noted a 20-year window is required to consider it as no longer a fish habitat.
Mayor Kelly Linton clarified the township could not move ahead with the bridge replacement until it made the monitoring agreement with the MNRF.
CAO Andy Goldie noted a long-term implications is that if no redside dace are discovered, the municipality would not be required to monitoring the creek for future work on the structure.
