NSWS Project Awarded Funding in Spring 2026 PSF Community Salmon Program - $1.9M Released for Salmon Conservation After Record Demand

Muchalat Lake Outlet Flow & Temperature Monitoring

Nootka Sound Watershed Society's project entitled: Building a Network of Freshwater Monitoring Experts in Nootka Sound has been selected to receive $24,000 in the spring funding round for the PSF Community Salmon Program.

The full media release and complete list of all Spring 2026 Community Salmon Program recipients can be found on PSF's blog post:

https://psf.ca/news-media/19m-released-for-salmon-conservation-after-record-demand/

The proposed project was developed in collaboration with the MMFN, NFN, SPSS and NSWS, reflecting a strategic partnership aimed at enhancing environmental monitoring and research capacity. The PSF funding will assist to enable the acquisition, maintenance, and replacement of critical field equipment and software, development of a Standard Operating Procedures manual, and a comprehensive field training program required for robust data collection, analysis, and future restoration project development and planning.

The project builds off a recently completed project, funded by the BCSRIF that aimed to support long-term management and recovery of priority salmon stocks in the Nootka Sound region of West Coast Vancouver Island, with a particular focus on threatened WCVI Chinook Salmon and other salmon stocks in Nootka Sound and Esperanza Inlet. A main activity of this project has been to develop a stream temperature and hydrometric monitoring network in Nootka Sound and Esperanza Inlet. Since 2022, NSWS and partners have installed and continue to maintain 72 stream temperature monitoring stations throughout key watersheds and tributaries in Nootka Sound and maintained one real-time hydrometric station at the outlet of Muchalat Lake.

The data is being collected, analyzed, and will ultimately be used to build more comprehensive models for predicting stream temperature and flows throughout the region, including in ungauged basins, for assessing both restoration and thermal mitigation priorities and future risks from climate change to steelhead and salmon habitats. High quality and consistent data collected through this stream temperature monitoring network, will guide and inform future restoration projects, identifying cold water refuges and locations where habitat restoration projects will be most impactful.

“A tremendous depth of salmon knowledge exists within First Nations and local stewardship groups. That’s what the PSF’s Community Salmon Program has always been about: investing in grassroots conservation and empowering local stewards to make an impact in their watersheds and communities,” says Michael Meneer, PSF President and CEO.

“The $1.4M unmet need for funding reflects the critical state of Pacific salmon, with two-thirds of populations struggling in British Columbia and the Yukon. The passion and readiness of local stewards give us hope for the future of salmon, while underscoring the long-term investments needed to support their recovery.”

Thank you to Pacific Salmon Foundation for your financial support for this important freshwater monitoring project in Nootka Sound. Gratitude also to our partners for making this impactful work possible, and to Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation and Nuchatlaht First Nation for sharing stewardship and conservation efforts in their traditional territories.

Our partners from Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation and Salmon Parks Stewardship Society in the field (and water) downloading tidbit logger temperature data, helping assess habitat and monitor temperature trends in streams and rivers throughout Nootka Sound and Esperanza Inlet.