Elk Creek Rehabilitation Project
Freshwater Conservation Canada Implementer
Project Goals and Objectives
Elk Creek is a tributary of the Clearwater River watershed and the North Saskatchewan River. With 95% of the Clearwater River watershed land unprotected, the watershed is subject to industrial, agricultural, and recreational land uses that can cause sedimentation, erosion, and habitat loss for threatened species, including Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus). Freshwater Conservation Canada is conducting rehabilitation work along Elk Creek on behalf of the City of Edmonton, as a part of a habitat offsetting agreement. Rehabilitation work along Elk River took place during the 2024 field season including the introduction of PALS (post-assisted log structures), BDAs (beaver dam analogues), and exclusionary fencing . Restoration monitoring includes a aerial imagery which began in 2023 (pre-intervention) and will be taken annually. The introduced structures will be maintained for up to five years and are expected to produce the following outcomes (when compared to pre-construction conditions): - Increase in pool area of 10% - Increase in channel length of 2% - Increase in-stream woody debris by 350 m2
Structure Construction Elements
- 2,200 m of exclusion fence was installed at Elk Creek surrounding the project area to reduce grazing pressures from cattle and feral horses. - 5 BDAs were constructed (44m^2) - 15 PALS were installed using a mix of bank-attached and midchannel BDAs (90 m^2) . - Drone Imagery captures to date: August 3, 2023; September 5, 2024
Project Photos
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Cover Photo
2023-06-23
Elk Creek in June 2023
2023-10-10
One of the transect markers as seen during a site visit on October 10 2023
2024-07-29
Completed BDA at southern most point of rehabilitation reach.
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2024-08-25
High flow event in August 2024