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v wi t i i v economist sunsuntribune environment saturday feb 26 2005 federal fisheries department investigates sewer construction fish habitat damaged in markham creeks by mike adler staff writer the federal fisheries depart ment is investigating separate incidents in which york regions sewer construction may have harmed fish habitat in markham robinson creek a rouge river tributary considered important coldwater habitat for fish suddenly went dry in november according to neigh bours and members of a local anglers group the creek receiving ground water pumped from the regions 16th avenue sewer project went dry due to a technical matter of some sort related to sewer con struction said edwin debruyn the departments ontario chief of habitat operations the department is also inves tigating an incident in which sediment from the nowcom pleted ninth line sewer project in markham dumped into a rouge watercourse affecting fish habitat the department has also received complaints from resi dents about spring creek a springfed stream feeding robinson creek which went dry soon after water extraction for the 16th avenue sewer began in 2002 ontarios ministry of the envi ronment this week also con firmed it is investigating alleged noncompliance with the regions permit to take water for the first phase of 16th avenue sewer but gave no more infor mation the permit under the ontario water resources act covers both withdrawal of groundwater along the sewenr route and discharge of that water in rouge streams including robinson creek glenn anderson president of the metro east anglers club which has stocked the creek with rainbow and brown trout for at least six years said robinson was virtually dry and alerted provin cial authorities there was no water in it he recalled this week certainly not enough water for fish to live in it for very long the creeks fish population dropped significantly from one week earlier said doug forder field supervisor for ontario streams a stream restoration group that sampled the same 100metre reach of the creek on nov 10 and on nov 18 a day after the incident using a technique called elec- trofishing in which a mild shock stuns fish to the surface mr forder said he found no change in number of species but record ed 18 per cent fewer fish and a 32percent drop in fish mass nov 18 to me that looks like a huge difference the creek is home to redside dace a minnow classified as threatened in ontario after a year of discussions the a relatively short duration failure of a pump pipe or valve or an accident or human error will cause hundreds of metres of trout streams to stop flowing jim robb genera manager friends of the rouge watershed department ministry and other agencies agreed to let the 16th avenue projects final phase begin this spring with a higher water extraction rate and an elaborate system to pipe heat and clean pumped groundwater keeping rouge streams in the- area from going dry the robinson creek incident however proves the regions sys tem is vulnerable to any glitch jim robb general manager of friends of the rouge watershed said a relatively short duration failure of a pump pipe or valve or an accident or human error will cause hundreds of metres of trout streams to stop flowing mr robb conducting his own private prosecution of the region for allegedly harming fish habitat in the creek warned senior fed eral politicians in a memo this month there was no pump failure at robinson creek mike kemp a spokesperson for the region said friday i am living independently in the home i love because of the help that i get from chats it makes all the difference to me chats i community home assistance to seniors trust dignity wellness professional advice and a helping hand our registered professional nurses will assess your home care needs and design a personalized plan of care for you and your caregiver then our highly trained and caring staff will cjeliver quality personal care and homemaking services to 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