October’s long dry spell in the northwest of British Columbia may be coming to an end with rain in the forecast, but the prolonged drought — which reached a level 4 warning in some areas — is already having adverse effects on wildlife in the region.
At the beginning of the week, Prince Rupert had seen only a couple of days of rain in October — which is highly unusual for the typically soggy city.
"We’ve been seeing unprecedented low water levels," said Cleveland, who hasn’t seen anything like it in his 25 years on the job.
"Frankly, it’s very concerning."
"Beavers block the entire river in four different locations, salmon are basically stuck behind these beaver dams," he said.
"We’re also seeing very high predation rates on these salmon from grizzly bears … [The salmon] are sitting ducks, they have to travel tens of kilometres with their backs out of the water."
Cleveland said he’s worried about how prolonged low water levels will impact the salmons’ future.
"Right now, they’re just kind of sitting in a mud puddle."
"I don’t think either the politicians nor the media have really focused on what we should be doing about adapting to these new conditions because they are going to come more frequently," said Hans Schreier, a UBC professor emeritus of land and water systems.
Schreier​ said more needs to be done at a governmental level to better manage water resources.