BURRARD INLET SHORELINE CHANGE – BASELINE ASSESSMENT

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BURRARD INLET SHORELINE CHANGE – BASELINE ASSESSMENT Final Report Section 2: Background Information Table 1: Boundaries of and Uses in the Six Basins of Burrard Inlet Basin Boundaries Uses Port Moody Arm East of Admiralty Point Mix of residential, park land, industrial and commercial (marina) Indian Arm (south) Southern boundary is narrowing at mouth of Indian Arm Central Harbour Western boundary at Second Narrows; eastern boundary at Admiralty Point Inner Harbour Western boundary at First Narrows; eastern boundary at Second Narrows False Creek Western boundary at Burrard Street Bridge Outer Harbour (east) 4 First Narrows west to Ambleside Park on the north shore and Burrard Street Bridge west to Kitsilano Beach on the south shore. December 2009 Project No. 1056983 Low density residential and some commercial Parkland (Belcarra, Maplewood Mudflats, Barnet Marine Park, Cates) with some industrial Industrial with some parkland (Stanley Park) Primarily high density residential and commercial, with high density of marinas Primarily park land (Stanley Park, Ambleside, Kitsilano Beach) with some high density residential. The northern part of Indian Arm was excluded because it remains in a relatively natural state and is experiencing relatively limited development in comparison with the rest of the Inlet. Only the eastern portion of the Outer Harbour is included because this is where most of the development has occurred and may occur in the future. 2 BACKGROUND INFORMATION Shoreline substrate composition in Burrard Inlet in general is mostly sand. Composition ranges from mostly boulder with little bedrock (False Creek) to mostly bedrock and fine gravel with little cobble (southern portion of Indian Arm) to mostly fine and course gravel (Port Moody Arm and Central Harbour (Lamagna and Walker 2009). Port Moody Arm contains the most mud substrate while the Outer Harbour contains the most sand. Lamagna and Walker (2009) reported the following for Burrard Inlet There is over one million square metres of intertidal vegetation, most of which occurs in the Inner Harbour, with the lowest amounts in Port Moody Arm False Creek and Inner Harbour contain the greatest percent per total shoreline of retaining walls and least amount of unstructured shoreline Central Harbour contains the greatest percent per total shoreline of riprap Indian Arm (southern portion) contains the greatest percent per total shoreline of unstructured shoreline
BURRARD INLET SHORELINE CHANGE – BASELINE ASSESSMENT Final Report Section 2: Background Information Port Moody Arm has the greatest percent per total shoreline of overhanging vegetation while False Creek has none. Port Moody Arm and Central Harbour have the greatest percent per total shoreline of erosion, while False Creek and the Inner Harbour have much less. The Burrard Inlet Air Photo-Based Land Cover Mapping Summary Report (Casyls 2009) reported the six basins in Burrard Inlet, including all of Indian Arm. Findings were generally similar to Lamagna and Walker (2009), although the studies reported on somewhat different aspects: Over half of the riprap occurs in the Inner Harbour, The majority of gravel substrate and nearly half of all sand substrate occurs in the Central Harbour Over 72% of all coniferous forest occurs in Indian Arm The majority of overhanging wharfs and piers are in the Inner Harbour 88% of False Creek, the Inner Harbour, the Central Harbour and the Port Moody Basin contain impervious surfaces (Caslys Consulting Ltd. 2009). There are 19 recreational beaches throughout Burrard Inlet, 13 in the Outer Harbour, 4 in Indian Arm, one each in the Inner Harbour, Central Harbour and Port Moody Arm and none in False Creek. 2.1 Shoreline Changes over Time (1930s vs. 2005) Integrated Mapping Technologies (IMT) calculated change in shoreline over time by creating digital ortho-imageries of 1930s and 2005 aerial photos of Burrard Inlet and Indian Arm and then overlaying these photos to calculate change between these years (Appendix A, Figure 2). The 1930’s photos were of poor quality and resolution, making them difficult to interpret accurately. This study classified shoreline into three categories: Natural: shoreline considered to be in its original condition and not altered by development Altered: shoreline that has been changed by development Permanently altered: shoreline that has been irreversibly altered, such as large piers and concrete sea walls The applicability of these classifications has since been questioned because ‘permanent altered’ is relative to time scale. As a result, findings presented below combine ‘altered’ and ‘permanently altered’ into a single classification ‘total altered’. This analysis indicates that the total area of Burrard Inlet has decreased by 363 ha since the 1930s. This is a result of dredging (55 ha) and filling (419 ha) activities. As may be expected, there was an overall decrease in natural habitat and an increase in altered habitat. There was an overall loss of spatial area in the Inlet due to fill. December 2009 Project No. 1056983 5
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BURRARD INLET SHORELINE CHANGE – BASELINE ASSESSMENT

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