Thank you.
Yes, I thought it was a good opportunity to maybe explain some more.
First, with regard to role the department has in dredging—and then I'll move into some of the impacts that could be associated with dredging—we're not the lead for water management, for flood management and for drainage. This is a provincial jurisdiction. We really work in collaboration with others. Our role is approval of the dredging as we're looking at the impacts on fish and fish habitat from a regulatory perspective. We support the thinking and the work that's going into what are the best prescriptions to manage flood and drainage in the Lower Mainland. Again, it's a secondary role to provide advice one how that might impact fish and fish habitat, so again it's provincial jurisdiction and local government's.
With regard to the impacts on fish and fish habitat, absolutely, when we look at these projects and these mitigations, if it's dredging, we look at the various impacts we could be seeing, whether it's on juvenile or adult species and habitats in those locations. There could be spawning habitats or rearing habitats for important species that could be impacted. There are times of the year that are particularly sensitive when fish at different life stages are in the water. There are significant potential impacts on fish and fish habitat associated with dredging. It's in-water work, so it's disturbing their habitats. It may be disturbing individuals. It could harm or even kill individuals depending on the time of year the dredging is done.
It's a serious piece of work; it's important. We have a lot of expertise. Over the years we've worked with various local governments to ensure that dredging is going on, because it's required and critical for a variety of reasons, not only for flood management but also for navigation. Absolutely, we're actively engaged to conserve and protect the fish and fish habitat values that are in those systems.