1. THE MISSION CREEK SPAWNING CHANNEL

The Spawning Channel was constructed in 1988 to increase the availability of spawning gravel for adult kokanee salmon. The structure provides preferred gravel size for a stretch of 0.8 km. Each August the gravel is cleaned using pressure washers. The silty water flows out of the channel into a settling area before returning to Mission Creek. Using this technique it is estimated that the survival of fish from egg to fry age, is increased from 5% to 40%. The adult migration occurs each September. The adult fish capacity is estimated at 25,000. During late April evenings, over 250,000 fry migrate downstream from the channel to Okanagan Lake.