2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 ?

Outflow drop: cm ?

Culvert slope: % ?

Go, Plamu. Go!

Plamu, or Atlantic salmon, go on an incredible journey to complete their life cycle. Part of this journey takes them back to the fresh water streams and rivers that they were born in. They come back to the streams they were born in to lay their own eggs. But sometimes this journey from the sea back to their fresh water homes is very difficult. They must navigate through many barriers and obstacles like culverts.

A culvert is a manmade structure that carries water under a road or railway line. Culverts are often made of metal or plastic pipe or are wooden structures. These culverts sometimes make it too hard for salmon to get upstream. Unfortunately for fish like our friend the Plamu, these culverts can become blocked with debris; have too scary of a drop; or, are too high to jump up and continue swimming!

Without our help, Plamu may not finish it’s incredible journey!

Instructions

Find out if our friends, the Plamu, can get through a culvert.

MCG surveyed 150 culverts in 2014 and you will find them all on this interactive map. The culverts MCG assessed are represented on the map with red dots.

Click on a culvert on the google map. You will see numbers that tell us the Outflow Drop and the Culvert Slope. Wait and see if our friends, the Plamu, can get through the culvert.

You can also use this tool with your own culvert data.

The data collected from this project will help MCG and other organizations understand which culverts are barriers to critical fish habitats. This will help us understand which culverts are the most important to fix or clear of debris in the future. We call this remediation.

Outflow drop is the height variation between the outflow of the culvert and the pool below. If this is too great, fish will not be able to make the jump from the pool to the culvert, cutting them off from the habitat upstream.
The culvert slope is the change in elevation between the ends of the culvert. A steep slope will increase water velocity, and restrict fish passage.