Hadden Creek Watershed
Profile
Characteristics:
- Sixth largest watershed in West Vancouver
- Tributary of Brothers Creek, confluence just downstream of Upper Levels Highway
- Bordered by Brothers Creek watershed to the west and Houlgate Creek and Capilano River watersheds to the east in West Vancouver, BC
- Originates on south-east side of Hollyburn Ridge above the British Properties area
- Eleveden Lake is connected to creek by a seasonal tributary
- Stevens Drive culvert limit of access for spawning salmon
- At least 8 side channels
- Seventeen bridges and houses built over creek
- Twenty-one culverts on creek, including Upper Levels highway
- 807 m of stabilized bank, 784 m of bank erosion problems found over 3.5 km of creek surveyed in 1997
- One out of 6 habitat sites studied in 1997 had unacceptable habitat, due to lack of instream cover and off-channel habitat
- Good riparian cover, wide buffer left around creek during development in 1930’s and 1940’s
- Valuable cutthroat habitat in swampy overgrown area in golf course
- Bedrock underlies creek above Capilano Golf Course, channels relatively small, little bedload movement
- Glacial and alluvial deposits underlie creek at golf course and downstream, creek carved ravine into sediments
- Coastal hemlock zone: western hemlock is the most common tree species, western red cedar and Douglas fir widespread, sparse herb layer
History:
- Named for Harvey Hadden, Nottingham textile merchant. Hadden built a mansion “Hadden Hall” on a 160 acre estate in 1903. The property had elaborate gardens with piped in water for fountains and pools. He sold the property in 1926. The present Capilano Golf Club clubhouse stands on the site of his mansion.
- Area logged in 1870’s
- Forest fire, 1910 and 1913
- Sockeye salmon perished trying to get up the Capilano River and Brothers Creek in 1926
Watershed Use:
- Residential
- Park: Hadden Park, Mount Moyne Square
- Recreational: Capilano Golf Club
- Schools: Westcot Elementary, Cedardale Centre, St. Anthony’s School
- Fish: coho, cutthroat trout, crayfish
- Wildlife: diverse populations of mammal, bird and amphibian inhabit the watershed
- Automobile transportation, power lines
Concerns:
- Classified as Endangered by Fisheries and Oceans Canada because impermeable area covers more than 10% of the watershed and urban development causes poor water quality and changes in the stream basin
- Morphology:
- culverting at 7 road crossings in addition to the Upper Levels Highway
- channelization of creek and loss of tributaries through urban area
- Water Quality:
- altered through proximity to urban development and storm drain discharge
- potential for sewer lines breakages
Key Interest Groups:
- Federal: Department of Fisheries and Oceans
- Provincial: Ministry of Transportation and Highways; Ministry of Environment Lands and Parks
- District of West Vancouver, District Parks Department
- West Vancouver Streamkeepers
- BC Rail
- British Properties Ratepayers Association
Watershed Projects:
- Notched weir installed 10 m downstream of highway entrance to create pool and allow entrance of salmon, 1997
- Baffles installed in highway culvert in herringbone pattern to form eddies where fish can rest as they go through culvert, 1997
- Creek bed re-naturalized over 40 m section upstream of highway, creek reshaped, bank replanted and series of pools created, 1997
- Culvert replaced and slope reconstructed in 13th fairway of Capilano Golf Club
Recommendations for Further Actions (1997):
- Stream bank planting
- Continued monitoring of water quality, stream invertebrates, juvenile fish in winter and summer
- Fish population assessments and spawner surveys
- Look for evidence of non-point source pollution
- Conduct wildlife surveys and habitat assessments on small mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds which use the riparian zone
- Assessment of fecal coliform and E. Coli in Elveden Lake
Available Sources of Information:
Web Sites:
Reports:
- Lower Fraser Valley Stream Review, Vol. 1. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Fraser River Action Plan, 1999
- Wild Threatened, Endangered and lost Streams of the Lower Fraser Valley, Summary Report. . Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Fraser River Action Plan, 1997
- Creeks in West Vancouver. Hugh Johnston?, 1990
- North Shore Streams- Nutrient Impacts. North Shore Streamkeepers, 1999
- West Vancouver Drainage. Dayton and Knight, 1973
- Task Force Inquiry into Drainage Policies and Problems. District of West Vancouver, 1977.
- A Habitat Study of Brothers Creek and its Major Tributaries. West Vancouver, British Columbia. Goody, K. and Schroeder, G., 1997.
- District of West Vancouver Task Force Inquiry into Drainage Policies and Problems: Hadden Creek. Working Paper #8, 1977
- Revitizing West Vancouver’s Major Remaining Salmon Stream. Brothers Creek Task Committee, 1998.
Prepared by Elizabeth Hardy, March 2003