User:Pretzelles/Nass river

The Nass River

Course
The Nass River rises at the Sacred Headwaters drainage basin in north-western British Columbia, approximately 2.5 km above sea level.

Hydrology
In 2011, a contract was awarded to Veolia Water for the construction of a drinking water treatment system at Gitwinksihlkw, producing a daily supply of 500 m3. The village had frequent water shortages and required water to be supplied externally.

A 2014 study into the ecology of the river described its water quality as "relatively pristine".

During winter periods, sections of the Nass River are known to freeze over. In summer periods, warmer temperatures cause the river to flood due to meltwater from melting mountain snows.

Watershed
The drainage basin of the Nass River has an area of 20.839 km2, compared to the 54.432 km2 basin of the Skeena River.

Flora
The Nass valley is identified with both the Interior Cedar-Hemlock and Coastal Western Hemlock biogeoclimatic zones, shown by the introgression of white spruce and Sitka spruce trees within the area.

Small populations of hazel trees grow alongside sections of the river, which may be due to prehistoric human translocation or evidence of a previous population disrupted by receding glaciers. Hazel trees have been noted to grow alongside Malus fusca in the region, and together have been used to indicate former village sites.

Salmonids
The Nass River drainage basin contains a significant population of steelhead, a salmonid fish used by Indigenous peoples as a food and ceremonial object. Efforts have been made by the Nisga'a Nation and Environment Canada to monitor levels of steelhead within the Nass. Population estimates fluctuated between 11,500–15,000 from 2000 to 2003, and decreased to 4,000–7,200 over the following four years. Numbers rose again in 2008. One of its tributaries, the Bell-Irving River, is home to various other species of salmonid, including coho salmon and Chinook salmon. It contains an above-average distribution of Juga plicifera, a freshwater snail which hosts the salmonid parasite Nanophyetus salmincola.

Other fauna
As a food staple of the region, eulachon were typically caught on the Nass River and transported south to places such as Prince Rupert. Examples of the fish have been found in local archaeological sites.

In a 2010 survey of Lampetra ayresii along the Pacific coast, three specimens were measured and recorded from the Nass River. The male was 197 millimetres long, and the two females were 227 and 287 millimetres respectively.

History
In July 1981, a burial site was discovered 135 m from the Nass riverbank in the Nisga'a village of Lax̱g̱altsʼap. Carbon dating and evidence found at the site gives a usage range of approximately 700 years, ending some time between 1200 and 1300 CE.

Modern history
In 1998, the Nisga'a Nation signed the Nisga'a Final Agreement with the governments of British Columbia and Canada. The treaty gives the Nisga'a rights to approximately 26% of the total allowable Nass River salmon harvest. It also grants them an annual water reservation of 300,000 cubic decametres for possible water licenses, being approximately 1% of the river's annual flow.

Helpful things

 * Leggetts Creek
 * Cibolo Creek
 * Adams River (British Columbia)
 * WikiProject Rivers
 * https://archive.org/details/landingnativefis0000harr/page/68/mode/2up?