User:Pretzelles/Nass river
The Nass River
Course[edit]
The Nass River rises at the Sacred Headwaters drainage basin in north-western British Columbia, approximately 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) above sea level.[1]: 1036
Tributaries[edit]
Hydrology[edit]
In 2011, a contract was awarded to Veolia Water for the construction of a drinking water treatment system at Gitwinksihlkw, producing a daily supply of 500 cubic metres (650 cubic yards). The village had frequent water shortages and required water to be supplied externally.[2]: 75–6
A 2014 study into the ecology of the river described its water quality as "relatively pristine".[1]: 1042
During winter periods, sections of the Nass River are known to freeze over.[3]: 5 In summer periods, warmer temperatures cause the river to flood due to meltwater from melting mountain snows.[3]: 5
Watershed[edit]
The drainage basin of the Nass River has an area of 20.839 square kilometres (8.046 sq mi), compared to the 54.432 square kilometres (21.016 sq mi) basin of the Skeena River.[1]: 1036
Ecology[edit]
Flora[edit]
The Nass valley is identified with both the Interior Cedar-Hemlock and Coastal Western Hemlock biogeoclimatic zones, shown by the introgression of white spruce and Sitka spruce trees within the area.[4]: 1652
Small populations of hazel trees grow alongside sections of the river, which may be due to prehistoric human translocation or evidence of a previous population disrupted by receding glaciers.[5]: 551 Hazel trees have been noted to grow alongside Malus fusca in the region, and together have been used to indicate former village sites.[5]: 554
Fauna[edit]
Salmonids[edit]
The Nass River drainage basin contains a significant population of steelhead, a salmonid fish used by Indigenous peoples as a food and ceremonial object.[1]: 1037 Efforts have been made by the Nisga'a Nation and Environment Canada to monitor levels of steelhead within the Nass.[1]: 1037 Population estimates fluctuated between 11,500–15,000 from 2000 to 2003, and decreased to 4,000–7,200 over the following four years. Numbers rose again in 2008.[1]: 1040 One of its tributaries, the Bell-Irving River, is home to various other species of salmonid, including coho salmon and Chinook salmon.[6]: 1397–8 It contains an above-average distribution of Juga plicifera, a freshwater snail which hosts the salmonid parasite Nanophyetus salmincola.[6]: 1397–8
Other fauna[edit]
As a food staple of the region, eulachon were typically caught on the Nass River and transported south to places such as Prince Rupert.[7] Examples of the fish have been found in local archaeological sites.[8]
In a 2010 survey of Lampetra ayresii along the Pacific coast, three specimens were measured and recorded from the Nass River. The male was 197 millimetres long, and the two females were 227 and 287 millimetres respectively.[9]
History[edit]
In July 1981, a burial site was discovered 135 metres (443 ft) from the Nass riverbank in the Nisga'a village of Lax̱g̱altsʼap.[3]: 3, 5 Carbon dating and evidence found at the site gives a usage range of approximately 700 years, ending some time between 1200 and 1300 CE.[3]: 163
Modern history[edit]
In 1998, the Nisga'a Nation signed the Nisga'a Final Agreement with the governments of British Columbia and Canada. The treaty gives the Nisga'a rights to approximately 26% of the total allowable Nass River salmon harvest.[10]: 67 It also grants them an annual water reservation of 300,000 cubic decametres for possible water licenses, being approximately 1% of the river's annual flow.[11]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f Moore, Jonathan W.; Yeakel, Justin D.; Peard, Dean; Lough, Jeff; Beere, Mark (2014). "Life-history diversity and its importance to population stability and persistence of a migratory fish: steelhead in two large North American watersheds". Journal of Animal Ecology. 83 (5). ISSN 0021-8790. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ "Industry News: Floating a New Energy Solution". Journal (American Water Works Association). 103 (12). 2011. ISSN 0003-150X. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ a b c d Cybulski, Jerome S. (1992). A Greenville Burial Ground: Human Remains and Mortuary Elements in British Columbia Coast Prehistory. Canadian Museum of Civilization. ISBN 0-660-14008-X. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ Hamilton, Jill A.; Aitken, Sally N. (2013). "Genetic and morphological structure of a spruce hybrid (Picea sitchensis × P. glauca) zone along a climatic gradient". American Journal of Botany. 100 (8). ISSN 0002-9122. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ a b Armstrong, Chelsey Geralda; Dixon, Wal'cecku Marion; Turner, Nancy J. (2018). "Management and Traditional Production of Beaked Hazelnut (k'áp'xw-az', Corylus cornuta; Betulaceae) in British Columbia". Human Ecology. 46 (4). ISSN 0300-7839. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ a b Robbins, Charles T.; Woodford, Nina L.; Clyde, Gaylynn Goolsby; Minor, Cody; Nelson, O. Lynne; Brewer, Melissa M.; Khalife, Patrick H.; Hawley, Jennifer R. (2018). "Salmon Poisoning Disease in Grizzly Bears with Population Recovery Implications". The Journal of Wildlife Management. 82 (7). ISSN 0022-541X. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ Stewart, Kathlyn M.; Stewart, Frances L.; Coupland, Gary (2009). "Boardwalk, Northern Northwest Coast, Canada—A New Face to an Old Site". Canadian Journal of Archaeology / Journal Canadien d'Archéologie. 33 (2): 214. ISSN 0705-2006. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ Moss, Madonna L.; Minor, Rick; Page-Botelho, Kyla (2017). "Native American Fisheries of the Southern Oregon Coast: Fine Fraction Needed to Find Forage Fish". Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology. 37 (2): 179. ISSN 0191-3557. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ Beamish, Richard J. (2010). "The Use of Gill Pore Papillae in the Taxonomy of Lampreys". Copeia. 2010 (4): 622. ISSN 0045-8511. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ Blackburn, Carole (2009). "Differentiating Indigenous Citizenship: Seeking Multiplicity in Rights, Identity, and Sovereignty in Canada". American Ethnologist. 36 (1). ISSN 0094-0496. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ Curran, Deborah; Mascher, Sharon (2016). "Adaptive Management in Water Law: Evaluating Australian (New South Wales) and Canadian (British Columbia) Law Reform Initiatives". McGill International Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy / Revue internationale de droit et politique du développement durable de McGill. 12 (2): 214. ISSN 1712-9664.