Riverbank Makeover Project
Similar to 2018, this year Calgary River Valleys is again doing a “Riverbank Makeover” project with a homeowner who backs onto the Elbow River, with funding support from City of Calgary Water Resources. 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.
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.
Click here to learn more about this project.
Elbow River Brown Trout Redd Count
This project was supported by a Watershed Stewardship Grant, a program of the Land Stewardship Centre, as well as our own operational funds, and support 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 were able to include, for the first time, data collection on Brown Trout redds in the Upper Elbow on the western edge of Calgary to establish a baseline in that reach.
These counts are conducted in November after spawning by the Brown Trout has occurred, a behavior that is triggered by water temperatures becoming sufficiently cold in the late fall. You are invited to participate in the 2019 Redd Survey dates, which will likely be on Saturday November 2 or 9 (Upper Elbow Count) and Friday November 3 or 10 (Lower Elbow Count). Click here to learn more about this project, and then scroll down.
CRV on Twitter
The ten latest CRV Tweets on Twitter.
“The city needs to be actively designed by its citizens. The political, economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainability are inherently connected.” #urbanplanning twitter.com/carlyziter/sta…
“Why livable cities need public spaces that aren’t an afterthought”. My @Concordia colleague Silvano De la Llata and I quoted in the @globeandmail on the importance of community participation in urban greening and placemaking https://t.co/iCbEatIiv2
— Carly Ziter (@carlyziter) November 30, 2019
Such a great thread! Thanks for starting it, as we have found many new folks to follow, especially around our interests in #water #urbanplanning and #scicomm twitter.com/JacquelynGill/…
A lot of folks are interested in following more scientists. If you’ve got a science account you think would be of interest to non-scientists, reply with a description of what you do, and maybe pick up some new followers!
— Dr. Jacquelyn Gill (@JacquelynGill) November 25, 2019
Data from the Lower Elbow count this year indicated 15 more Brown Trout Redds than in 2018, continuing the trend upward since the 2013 flood. twitter.com/clgrivervalley…
Thanks @GlobalCalgary for coming out to learn more about @clgrivervalleys annual count of Brown Trout Redds (spawning nests) in the Elbow River on Nov 8th! This is a great #CitizenScience project, supported by @cityofcalgary and @landstewardship https://t.co/Kkte8ffA9W
— CalgaryRiverValleys (@clgrivervalleys) November 9, 2019
Thanks @GlobalCalgary for coming out to learn more about @clgrivervalleys annual count of Brown Trout Redds (spawning nests) in the Elbow River on Nov 8th! This is a great #CitizenScience project, supported by @cityofcalgary and @landstewardship globalnews.ca/news/6147820/c…
I'm sure most Calgarians have some ideas about how Deerfoot Trail could be improved - here's your chance! #yyc twitter.com/cityofcalgary/…
We’ve developed preliminary concepts to improve Deerfoot Trail as traffic patterns change and grow over the next 30 years. Provide your feedback to help shape the final recommendations: https://t.co/KU86T6KURt pic.twitter.com/lLDsqqZHMP
— City of Calgary (@cityofcalgary) November 4, 2019
Your facts R wrong, @cityofcalgary has cut >$650M from its admin budget over the last several years, with $60M this year. Prop tax balance over time in #yyc has gone fr abt 1/3 resid & 2/3 non-resid in 2013 to 1/4 resid & 3/4 non-resid in 2019 -->resid amt artific'ly low #ableg twitter.com/99mansingh/sta…
Y politicians recover budget cuts by increasing tax on public and never think of cutting their own admin cost like pay cuts for govt establishments the way private companies do.. Nenshi also announced to increase property tax to recover the budget cuts.. y public always suffer?
— Man (@99mansingh) October 29, 2019
Such an amazing natural asset within the inner city of #yyc - natural spring within QP Cemetery that still runs at the surface, mentioned in mult @cityofcalgary Parks rpts going back to at least 1961 twitter.com/RustysTale/sta…
Queen's Park Creek today, a 1st order #groundwater tributary stream that flows into D86 then into @ConfedCreek within vault under 40Ave & 4St. From there they flow thru #HighlandValley joined by 2 more streams underground & flow into NoseCreek @FNC_AB at N25 #water #yyc #ableg pic.twitter.com/Vb91FwlnqP
— Rusty (@RustysTale) October 28, 2019
Our Riverbank Makeover Reveal event has been rescheduled to tonight, Oct 15. Drop in between 5:30 and 7 pm. Look for the Calgary River Valleys banner in the 800 block of Rideau Rd SW & come directly to the home's back yard to see what we've done & why. #yyc
If someone chooses to live in a smaller home in the inner city to avoid a commute, they generally don’t pressure society to build them a bigger house with more stuff. So if you choose a bigger stuff-filled house in the suburbs, don’t expect society to build you a fast commute. Retweeted by CalgaryRiverValleys
Great opportunity in S AB on Wed Oct 9 to listen in to the discussion & provide questions to be asked of the AB gov't regarding the upcoming budget. alberta.ca/release.cfm?xI… twitter.com/BowRiverWPAC/s…
The Government of Alberta is holding 2 telephone town hall meetings (Oct 7&9) to give people the opportunity to ask questions and provide their views on the provincial budget and Alberta’s finances. People are also invited to listen and participate online. https://t.co/MgixRYWuXc
— BRBC (@BowRiverWPAC) October 8, 2019
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