Calgary River Valleys

We counted Brown trout redds this autumn in the newly reopened channel.

The results of our redd count in the Lower Elbow are in. We had a count of 275 redds this year, which is 1 more than last year, continuing the slow upward trend. The counters also found the trout were starting to use the new gravel that had been deposited by the City & the Province in the fish habitat restoration project last year.

The weather cooperated today for our Brown Trout Redd Count in the Elbow River between Glenmore Dam & Fort Calgary, to count & geo-locate the spawning nests of Brown Trout. This annual event was modified this year due to Covid-19, with a pared down # of volunteers & catered individual lunches instead of homemade chili. Thanks to our volunteers, our Board & staff, the City of Calgary for their funding for this important project.

We had a successful day planting nearly 700 sandbar willow stakes in West Nose Creek on Sat Oct 31. Amazingly, after the snow we had a week or so earlier, which had since melted, the ground was quite soft which made planting much easier. Thanks to all our volunteers who came out to help! We'll keep you all posted with the results over time from our Citizen Science experiment testing the effects on willow stake growth from: pre-soaking (or not) the bases of the stakes, pre-treating (or not) the tops of the stakes with a diluted paint mixture to prevent drying out, and pre-treating (or not) the stakes with non-toxic but hopefully unpalatable beaver repellent (chili oil, yogurt, and water). Will the beavers just appreciate that their favourite snack of willow stakes now come with dip? We'll see!

We worked together today on our riparian restoration and got it done! Thank you to all our volunteers. You rocked!

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/creek-bank-restoration-willow-p

Thank you Cows and Fish - Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society for the Riparian Health Assessment training today, and for everyone who volunteered to join us! It was a great day. Hope to see you all again soon.