WATERSHED RESTORATION
OVERVIEW
The Upper Bulkley River has been identified by numerous investigations as highly impacted in its riparian zones (where land meets a river or stream). A healthy riparian zone contains moisture-loving vegetation that provides shade to aquatic habitat and a barrier to the erosive power of the water. According to the Upper Bulkley and Morice Water and Salmon Sustainability Views report released in 2019 by the Bulkley Valley Research Center:
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“The Upper Bulkley Basin hosts a number of significant salmon populations, and is an important basin in terms of providing high quality fish habitat to many aquatic species. The effects of human caused alteration has been extensively recorded along the Upper Bulkley River; changes to channel morphology, water temperature, and flow rates are only among a few of the challenges associated with development activities throughout the basin”.
In 2021, the MWMT completed the first phase of a multi-year riparian restoration project in the Upper Bulkley and Upper Morice basins. Restoration took place at various sites where outer banks of the Bulkley River and Maxan Creek were eroding. These improvements to the river corridor increase aquatic resilience and flood protection.
COMMUNITY EFFORT
By establishing relationships and initiating dialogue with landowners and community groups about watershed health, and incorporating local technical expertise, our restoration solutions strike a balance between people (land and water use) and nature (fish-friendly restoration designs).
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Collaborators in the project included the Office of the Wet’suwet’en, A Rocha Canada; B.C. Cattlemen’s Association, Regional District of Bulkley Nechako, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resources, B.C. Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, Northwest Research and Monitoring, Skeena Knowledge Trust, Skeena Fisheries Commission, Society for Ecosystem Restoration in Northern BC, and the B.C. Freshwater Legacy.
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LOW-TECH RESTORATION
Low-tech process based restoration techniques are a practice of using simple, cost-effective, non-engineered structural additions of natural materials to reduce erosion, create and maintain wildlife and fish habitat, save cropland, and increase flood resilience. Process-based restoration lets the river do the work through natural processes such as erosion, deposition, scour and movement.
A MWMT created a tool called a waterjet stinger that allows large-scale planting of dormant, unrooted cuttings of vegetation in a short period of time. The waterjet stinger is simple to operate and transport and requires minimal training.