As pretty as this little waterall might be, you don't want this headcut chewing through your field.
Water issues are always there - sometimes too much, sometimes too little. Often the attempt control or manage water leads to unintended and unwanted consequences years later. This project is focusing on restoring a stream so that erosion is controlled.
Another piece on this project can be found on TELUS Optik and Pik TV. The episode is Growing Concerns: Swimming Upstream. It was produced by Tangerine Productions and is part of the Growing Concerns series.
The video release party was a great success and we really enjoyed the conversation and discussion that came about. For those of you in the Watershed breakout room, I was unable to provide some (correct) numbers at that time. So here there. This project focused on a stream reach length of 616 metres that had an elevation drop of just over 6 metres. Check out the video and connect with us if you have any comments or questions.
Thanks to all the great people who invested in this project: Graham Powell, Agroforesty Woodlot Extension Society, Alberta Conservation Association, County of Grande Prairie, Cows and Fish, Craig Sponholtz of Watershed Artisans and Andrew Jones of Checkered Owl. Thanks to the Government of Alberta for funding provided through the Watershed Resiliency and Restoration Program.
Here is the teaser!
Join us for a free viewing of this video.
As we were out preparing for the revegetation work to occur this summer we come across spawning suckers. Longnose Suckers (Castotomus castotomus). A great thing to see at a stream restoration project.
Bank measurements are occurring to track how much the stream begins to meander. Photo documentation is also going on. In spring 2020, we will revegetate the riparian zone as the last component of this project.
A successful 2018 field season means that these banks are on their way to stability. It will be years before the stream channel meanders again and begins to function at full capacity for flood and drought mitigation, improving water quality, providing habitat and bank stability. Planning is occurring for field work in the 2019 season.
This is the erosion problem creating by channel straightening done decades ago. Accessing the field on both sides of the incised channel is tough.
This project is starting with assessment and we would like you to join us.
We would like to thank the Government of Alberta for providing funding for this project through the Watershed Resiliency and Restoration Program.
(https://www.alberta.ca/watershed-resiliency-and-restoration-program.aspx)