BC Ferries Holden Creek Habitat Assessment

Client: British Columbia Ferry Services Inc.

This large project involved returning 22.4 hectares of diked farmland to estuarine salt-marsh habitat. The replacement habitat fulfilled the obligations of a Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) approved habitat compensation project.

McElhanney assessed the quantity and quality of replacement habitat to assure that compensation targets were met, and negotiated with regulatory agencies to establish a habitat compensation bank, based on surplus habitat created. Once the project was complete, a report was filed with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, to release the client from CEAA obligations.