A 500-metre stretch of the Bearberry Creek on the west side of Sundre recently received a major facelift.
A group of more than a dozen people made up of town staff assisted by volunteers planted 1,900 trees and shrubs ó including a variety of ashes, willows, poplars, junipers and dogwoods ó as part of a project to improve biodiversity and reduce the effects of erosion on both the stream's north and south banks, said Jim Hall, the town's operations manager.
The municipality has been preparing plans for the Bearberry Creek bank stabilization project ever since eight erosion control spurs were installed near the Red Deer River Bridge in 2012. That project was completed with funding from a $2.1-million grant, of which $200,000 had to be spent on fish habitat enhancement along the Red Deer River or one of its tributaries to make up for the spurs' footprint, he said.
Since the Red Deer River's banks tend to change unpredictably every season due to the nature of erosion with heavier, stronger flows of water, chances are any attempts to plant trees and shrubs would not have been successful. So instead, planners set their sights on Bearberry Creek, where improvements are far more likely to take hold, he said.
However, because conditions have been so dry, efforts will be ongoing to water the new plant life in an attempt to ensure at least 80 per cent of the trees and shrubs will survive to set their roots deep, as per the requirements outlined in the provincial grant funding. An order was placed earlier this season through Everblue Nursery, a local tree farm, to provide the new plants an opportunity to grow large enough to improve their odds of being successfully transplanted, he said.
The final part of the project, which last year included adding rocks in the creek that create eddies to improve fish habitat, was given the green light after receiving approval from Alberta Environment as well as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, he said.
