Key Ecological Attributes and Connectivity Status Results

Current Connectivity Status

The Planning Team identified two Key Ecological Attributes (KEAs) to assess the current connectivity status of the watershed for each focal species – Accessible Key Habitat and Accessible Overwintering Habitat (Table 6). KEAs are the key aspects of anadromous salmon habitat that are being targeted by this WCRP. For each KEA, an associated indicator was assigned to measure the status of that KEA. The connectivity status indicators were used to establish goals to improve key habitat connectivity over time and is the baseline against which progress is tracked over time.

To support a flexible prioritization framework to identify priority barriers in the watershed, two assumptions are made: 1) any modelled (i.e., the passability status is unknown) or partial barriers are treated as complete barriers to passage and 2) the habitat modelling is binary, it does not assign any habitat quality values. As such, the current connectivity status is refined over time as more data on habitat and barriers are collected.

Table 6: Connectivity status assessment for spawning and rearing (a) and overwintering (b) habitat in the Horsefly River watershed.
A

Focal Species

KEA

Indicator

Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

Anadromous Salmon

Available Spawning and Rearing Habitat

% of total linear habitat

<80%

-

81-90%

>90%

Current Status:

91.7%

Comments: Indicator rating definitions are based on the consensus decisions of the Planning Team, including the decision not to define Fair. The current status is based on the connectivity model output, which is current as of May 2026.

B

Focal Species

KEA

Indicator

Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

Anadromous Salmon

Available Overwintering Habitat

Total Area (m^2) of overwintering habitat connected

?

?

?

?

Current Status:

Comments: No baseline data exists on the extent of overwintering habitat in the watershed. A priority action is included in the Operational Plan (strategy 2.3) to develop a habitat layer, and this will be used to inform this connectivity status assessment in the future.

In the Horsefly River watershed, 259.43 km of Pacific salmon spawning and rearing habitat are currently connected to the ocean and 23.53 km are disconnected from it. This means that 91.7% of the 282.96 km of total habitat is connected.

Goals

Table 7: Goals to improve (1) spawning and rearing and (2) overwintering habitat connectivity for focal species in the Horsefly River watershed over the lifespan of the WCRP (2021-2040). The goals were established through discussions with the Planning Team and represent the resulting desired state of connectivity in the watershed. The goals are subject to change as more information and data are collected over the course of the plan timeline (e.g., the current connectivity status is updated based on barrier field assessments).

Goal #

Goal

1

By 2040, the percent (%) of total linear key habitat connected for anadromous salmon will increase from 92% to 96% within the Horsefly River watershed (i.e., reconnect at least 14.77 km of habitat).

2

By 2024, the total area of overwintering habitat connected for anadromous salmon will increase by 1,500 m2 within the Horsefly River watershed.

Structure Count

In the Horsefly River watershed, 33 structures potentially disconnect Pacific salmon spawning or rearing habitat. Of these, 16 are identified as barriers in need of rehabilitation (priority barriers), 7 are identified as barriers that do not warrant rehabilitation (non-actionable), and 11 require further field assessment.

Maps

Figure 1: Map of Pacific salmon spawning and rearing habitat and structures that are confirmed or potential barriers to fish passage in the Horsefly River watershed as of May 2026. Structure data were obtained from BCFishPass and the Canadian Aquatic Barriers Database (aquaticbarriers.ca). The accessibility model represents areas of the watershed that one or more species of Pacific salmon could access naturally in the absence of anthropogenic barriers. The habitat model represents the subset of accessible waterbodies that may be used by one or more species of Pacific salmon for spawning or rearing. Available local knowledge and data were incorporated and overruled habitat model results. Thick red lines represent habitat considered to be fully disconnected (upstream of barriers or unassessed structures). Barriers that were rehabilitated through implementation of this plan are shown, but other excluded structures (e.g., those found to be passable) are not.

Habitat Accumulation Curves

Figure 2: Habitat Accumulation Curve (HAC) showing structures in the Horsefly River watershed as of May 2026. Structures are ranked based on how much (km) habitat for spawning or rearing is upstream. The y-axis represents the cumulative amount of potential habitat gain (km). Sets of structures are indicated by a grey line below the curve, indicating that gains from addressing the downstream structure alone would be less than the combined gains from addressing all structures in the set. Habitat upstream of unassessed structures is considered disconnected until field assessments are completed. Structures that were excluded as passable are not shown; however, rehabilitated barriers are shown to demonstrate the connectivity gains achieved through implementation of this plan.

Habitat Accumulation Summary Table

Table 8: Labelled structures in the Habitat Accumulation Curve, their rank, and upstream spawning and rearing habitat for Pacific salmon in the Horsefly River watershed. Habitat gain (averaged across sets) represents the amount (km) of habitat upstream of that structure to the next structure and depicts the potential gain in habitat if passage at that structure was restored.

Barrier ID

Site Name

Structure Status

Structure Rank

Average Habitat Upastream of Structure

Actual Habitat Upstream of Structure

57556

Sucker Cr @ Black Cr FSR (57556)

Priority barrier

1

3.3800000

3.38

126594

Niquidet Cr @ R17330-730 FSR (126594)

Rehabilitated barrier

2

2.0250000

0.35

126602

Niquidet Cr @ Private (126602)

Non-actionable barrier

2

2.0250000

3.70

57507

Wilmot Cr @ Horsefly Rd (57507)

Priority barrier

3

2.9300000

2.93

126511

Trib to Horsefly R @ unnamed (126511)

Rehabilitated barrier

4

2.6600000

2.66

124150

Trib to Deerhorn Cr @ unnamed (124150)

Priority barrier

5

1.8500000

1.85

197762

Divan Cr @ spur (197762/198873)

Priority barrier

6

1.4400000

1.44

124272

Trib to Woodjam Cr @ Unnamed (124272)

Priority barrier

7

1.1500000

1.15

199424

Bassett Cr @ Unnamed (199424)

Data-deficient barrier

8

0.8000000

0.10

57596

Bassett Cr @ R14189-4C Rd (57596)

Data-deficient barrier

8

0.8000000

1.50

126438

Trib to Horsefly R @ Private (126438)

Data-deficient barrier

9

0.8500000

0.85

57168

Boscar Lk Cr @ Black Cr-Cruiser Lk FSR (57168)

Rehabilitated barrier

10

0.5650000

1.05

57298

Trib to Bosk Lk @ Black Cr-Cruiser Lk FSR (57298)

Rehabilitated barrier

10

0.5650000

0.08

124249

Wawn Lk Cr @ Millar Rd (124249)

Priority barrier

11

0.7000000

0.70

124256

Harpers Cr @ Horsefly Rd (124256)

Priority barrier

12

0.6800000

0.68

126603

Alah Cr @ Little Horsefly Rd (126603)

Non-actionable barrier

13

0.3133333

0.86

199421

Alah Cr @ Private (199421)

Non-actionable barrier

13

0.3133333

0.01

199422

Alah Cr @ Private (199422)

Non-actionable barrier

13

0.3133333

0.07

123937

Molybdenite Cr @ unnamed (123937)

Priority barrier

14

0.4350000

0.74

198300

Molybdenite Cr @ unnamed (198300)

Priority barrier

14

0.4350000

0.13

124268

Vedder Cr @ Horsefly-Quesnel FSR (124268)

Priority barrier

15

0.4350000

0.00

197765

Vedder Cr @ Private (197765/198876)

Priority barrier

15

0.4350000

0.87

126510

Trib to Horsefly R @ unnamed (126510)

Non-actionable barrier

16

0.4500000

0.45

1006800524

Trib to Horsefly R @ Unnamed (6800524)

Data-deficient barrier

17

0.2800000

0.28

199419

Trib to Molybdenite Cr @ KcKinley Tr (199419/24738332)

Priority barrier

18

0.1800000

0.32

57158

Trib to McKinley Cr @ R02156-887 (57158)

Priority barrier

18

0.1800000

0.04

124269

Trib to Horsefly R @ Unnamed (124269)

Data-deficient barrier

19

0.2400000

0.24

197701

Trib to McKinley Cr @ unnamed (197701)

Non-actionable barrier

20

0.1800000

0.18