Elk Creek Restoration
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). Trout Unlimited 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 the Elk River is planned to take place during the 2024 field season. Pre-restoration monitoring is intended to provide baseline conditions to facilitate monitoring of rehabilitation outcomes post restoration. Aerial imagery was also collected during summer 2023.
Structure Construction Elements
Ten transect locations along Elk Creek were marked between the location points above, labelled as Transects 0-9 (T0 – T9). Sites were chosen starting at T0 (52.079749°N, 115.684659°W), measuring 50m upstream. Each site was marked with a wooden stake with visible spray paint and flagging tape. The wetted width (stream width) and the rooted/bank width (width of stable stream bank with rooted vegetation) were recorded. Additionally, the maximum depth of the stream at each site and between sites was recorded. These locations were measured and marked for future monitoring of stream width, erosion, and depth.
Project Photos
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Cover Photo
2024-05-08
Downstream view of Elk Creek in May 2024
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