Fisheries committee  Yes, you're asking what our role is right now with the existing challenges you described. There are two different angles that we're working on right now in the department. One, as systems are coming up for works and maintenance repairs, provincial authorities are planning on getting permits provincially for that.

Fisheries committee  I don't have the exact number. I would have to get back to you on the exact number, but there are dozens, if not more, of those types of pumping stations that are either impeding or preventing migration. We're prioritizing those for action to look for these opportunities, whether it's through new funding programs, restoration programs or infrastructure programs, to ensure we're getting improvements to those fish passages.

Fisheries committee  I can take this question, Sarah—if that's appropriate, Mr. Chair. Yes, DFO often provides support and advice to provincial authorities that do debris management in the Fraser, largely for protection of infrastructure and for navigation control and safety. We will continue to provide advice.

Fisheries committee  It's a good question. I think what I would add is, yes, absolutely, we don't have any detailed knowledge from Quebec or the St. Lawrence area, but we do know that there are many other jurisdictions in Canada that have experienced flooding events as we've seen, and there's some expertise throughout Canada, be it in Edmonton from floods there, and in Winnipeg and locations.

Fisheries committee  The response to this is that the department works in collaboration with others on the water quality issues. You referenced petrochemicals. These are in the jurisdiction of Environment and Climate Change Canada, as well as the provincial authorities responsible for the water quality, if you will, of deleterious-type substances that may need to be controlled for entry into freshwater systems.

Fisheries committee  We certainly have a keen interest, as you know, in the salmon, but there are other species, freshwater species, such as sturgeon, and there are several listed species in Sumas, for example, with Nooksack dace and Salish suckers. So there are other species that are potentially impacted by the flooding events.

Fisheries committee  With regard to the work that the department does with other local jurisdictions, the Vancouver Port Authority for example, around dredging in the Fraser River, we're actively involved in the annual maintenance, if you will, of many of the channels, particularly as it relates to navigation.

Fisheries committee  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.

Fisheries committee  The only thing I will add is that supporting green infrastructure and broader environmental benefits certainly complements the work DFO is doing related to fish and fish habitat. The planning functions the department does are going to be critical because we're going to be involved and engaged and expect to be engaged in infrastructure upgrades and opportunities for fish, which will just benefit broader environmental interests, if you will.

Fisheries committee  We know a fair bit. Our program, the fish and fish habitat protection program, has been working quite closely with a lot of the local municipalities and regional districts during the flooding events themselves to make sure that we were supporting them and the actions they were taking during the flood events to try to mitigate and avoid some impacts to fish and fish habitat while doing that important infrastructure repair work immediately at the time.

Fisheries committee  Yes. In the various systems you've indicated, whether in the Merritt area in particular and around Similkameen and around Princeton, most of those features aren't quite the same as the Lower Mainland. We saw lots of agricultural activity and heavy diking. There are dikes in those particular areas, and we had some works that we supported through our regulatory functions to support repairs to those.

Fisheries committee  Do you mind repeating the question? I think it was related to the restoration impacts of DFO types of facilities.

Fisheries committee  On that particular item, I think Sarah's accurate. We should be following up with the appropriate authorities. B.C. has management responsibilities for steelhead, in particular, so we'd be coordinating with B.C. to get that information.

Fisheries committee  Clearly, rivers are dynamic systems that go through these types of fluctuating water flows. This is a particularly severe event that occurred in the fall, so the impacts are anticipated to be much greater. We can see as much in some of the systems that we've seen, particularly in the Nicola, Chilliwack and Lower Mainland systems.