Riverbank Makeover Project 2018
You’ve heard of Home Makeover shows, well in a similar fashion, this year Calgary River Valleys is doing a “Riverbank Makeover” project with a homeowner who backs onto the Elbow River, with funding support from the City of Calgary. This project is in alignment with the City’s recently adopted program, the Riparian Action Program, which is designed to improve and maintain the health of river-adjacent areas as well as the quality and quantity of water flowing through Calgary’s rivers and creeks.
Many people are unfamiliar with the term “riparian”. Its Latin root “ripa” means bank or shore, so riparian refers to the transition zone between the river and the surrounding lands or uplands. This is land where the vegetation and soils are strongly influenced by water. As a result, different types of plants can grow in the riparian zone as compared to the surrounding lands or uplands.
The project this year has 3 main components:
- Research about people’s knowledge of riparian issues,
- Field work to modify an Elbow River adjacent homeowner’s riparian zone with new vegetation and monitor its success over time, and
- Educate the public about the value and function of riparian zones in our ecosystem.
We completed our volunteer planting day on October 6th, and we will be holding a “garden tour” style event on October 20th from 1 pm to 3:30 pm, to see what was planted, where, and why. Contact us at CalgaryRiverValleys@outlook.com if you are interested in attending the “garden tour” style event. See below for some pictures of the transformation of the riverbank. Hover over each picture to see a short description of what is in the photo.
-
- Riverbank Pre-Preparation
-
- Riverbank Post-Snow
-
- Riverbank Post-Shovelling
-
- Riverbank Bed Prep 1
-
- Riverbank Bed Prep 2
-
- Riverbank Planting Crew
-
- Riverbank Planting Action
-
- Riverbank Post-Re-Planting
Expanded Brown Trout
Redd Count 2018 Project
This project was funded in part through a Watershed Stewardship Grant, a program of the Land Stewardship Centre, as well as funding from City of Calgary Water Resources. We appreciate the support provided by these partners which allows this important citizen science project to proceed.
Calgary River Valleys has been working with other groups to count Brown Trout redds or spawning nests in the lower Elbow River since 1994, and has been the main sponsor of this important project since 2009. We want to ensure this citizen science continues as an annual count in order to ensure the data collected is as accurate as it can be, that trends over time can be observed, and the location of redds can be used to ensure land use decisions don’t negatively impact Calgary’s blue-ribbon trout fishery. In 2018 we intend to expand this project in order to incorporate for the first time data collection on Brown Trout redds in the Upper Elbow to establish a baseline, and we hope to work with Tsuut’ina Nation to complete the count on the Elbow River through their lands.
To view a short (3:15) video clip from our YouTube channel of our volunteer Biologist, Chris Bjornson, of Golder & Associates, explaining how Brown Trout spawn each fall, what the citizen scientists doing the count should be looking for, and why this annual redd count is important, click here.
CRV on Twitter
The ten latest CRV Tweets on Twitter.
Agreed! @cityofcalgary Please apply Best Management Practices for the former @HighlandPkCA golf course lands and #daylight @ConfedCreek Would provide #floodprotection & help meet targets for the Nose Creek Watershed Water Mgmt Plan. Time to #expropriate @AB_Enviro twitter.com/LHKirkland1/st…
Daylighting Confederation Creek in the Highland Valley area would not only provide a much-needed park area and water management (flood mitigation) area, it would be good for water quality entering Nose Creek and the Bow River! @nenshi @seanchucalgary @DruhFarrell @CraigCoolahan https://t.co/EqksQL7DwV
— L.H. Kirkland (@LHKirkland1) October 17, 2018
Here's a Global TV feature about our Riverbank Restoration Project. If you want to attend our "Reveal" and garden tour on October 20, 1-3:30 pm please private message or email us for the address.... globalnews.ca/news/4547837/e…
Sad this is cancelled, but hope to see the rescheduled date in Nov or Dec. Thanks! #yycplan twitter.com/gccarra/status…
— Gian-Carlo Carra (@gccarra) October 9, 2018
This is a free event for people who would be interested. Retweeted by CalgaryRiverValleys
Turned out to be a great day for the planting part of our #RiverbankMakeover project - thx to @cityofcalgary for supporting this! Pics show transformation #nativespecies #floodmitigation
Thanks so much for volunteering your time today with your lovely wife for our #RiverbankMakeover project - we couldn’t do these projects w/o #volunteers - #thankful twitter.com/GregClark4AB/s…
Spending a morning with the keen volunteers from @clgrivervalleys restoring the riparian area next to the Elbow river #ableg #yyc pic.twitter.com/5aaRYIOQUD
— Greg Clark (@GregClark4AB) October 6, 2018
Tomorrow’s a big day - it’s planting day for our Riverbank Makeover project on the Elbow River with grant $ from @cityofcalgary From Kentucky Bluegrass to Willows, Dogwood, and other native plants. #restoration #floodmitigation
Thanks @mjwagner306 We're not catching any fish at all, just doing a visual count of fresh spawning nests of Brown Trout. calgaryrivervalleys.org twitter.com/mjwagner306/st…
Please check the fishing regulations before you go. This activity was conducted under a research permit https://t.co/be8QaUhbUb
— Michael Wagner (@mjwagner306) September 28, 2018
Social Media
Stay connected with the Calgary River Valleys through our Social Media links. It’s a great way to stay up to date on the latest information regarding our waterways.
Map
Be sure to view our map of Calgary’s rivers, creeks, wetlands and watershed resources.
Member Photos
We’re avid photographers in addition to nature enthusiasts. It only follows that our members have a lot of great photos to share.
Get Involved With the CRV
Membership & DonationsRead CRV Publications
Read CRV publications, articles and past editions of the Ripple Newsletter.
Subscribe For CRV News and Updates
Have important Calgary River Valleys news and updates delivered to your email inbox. it’s a great way to stay informed on issues that may be of interest to you.
