TUC’s Alberta Strategic Watershed Action Team (SWAT) Program- In July 2017, Trout Unlimited Canada (TUC) launched a two year project focused on habitat rehabilitation activities to help recover native salmonid species along Alberta’s eastern slopes,the program was known as the Strategic Watershed Action Team program (SWAT) and mirrored a similar SWAT-style program in Ontario. The focal species for Alberta’s SWAT program were Bull Trout, Westslope Cutthroat Trout, Athabasca Rainbow Trout, and Arctic Grayling. All of the focal species are threatened by many of the same habitat-related issues which should be addressed strategically on a regional basis, as often their habitats overlap with each other. The program was launched with funding through Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Program for 2017-2019, and funding through the Alberta Conservation Association Conservation, Community, and Education Grant for the 2018-19 program year. The SWAT project was intended to build upon habitat rehabilitation efforts already underway, and to plan, coordinate and implement additional efforts along the eastern slopes of various scales with partners and TUC chapters. An additional goal was to identify future rehabilitation project opportunities that could be carried out by TUC and our partners.
Hidden Creek 2017 Wattle Fence Growth
During the first field season in 2017, TUC partnered with Alberta Environment and Parks to conduct a series of fisheries assessments and barrier inventories on headwater tributaries of the Red Deer River. These assessments identified several stream crossing sites where an upstream passage for Bull Trout is being impeded or blocked by hanging culverts and where there are future opportunities for habitat reconnection projects. In August 2017, TUC partnered with AEP and the University of Calgary to electrofish two reaches of Quirk Creek as part of an ongoing effort beginning in 1998 to collect fisheries data from this Elbow River tributary to monitor Bull Trout, Westslope Cutthroat Trout, and Brook Trout populations, Quirk Creek was one of the streams included in the Quirk Creek Brook Trout Suppression Project which evolved to become the Stewardship License Pilot Project (SLPP) which concluded in 2016. The collection of fish population data will help fisheries managers understand how Bull Trout and Westslope Cutthroat Trout populations are faring following the SLPP program. TUC was also able to revisit the live wattle fence constructed in 2015 at a slumping bank along Hidden Creek with members of TUC’s Oldman River Chapter in August to see how things were growing; over all the site looked good with lots of new willow growth occurring and the slumping appearing to have slowed considerably.
Quirk Creek
During a site visit in October 2017, TUC and AEP identified an environmental emergency along Rocky Creek. Part of the stream had begun to flow down a section of off-highway-vehicle (OHV) trail leaving fish trapped in tire ruts which were also delivering large quantities of sediment into this important tributary of the Clearwater River. A fish rescue was conducted to move fish from within the trail and relocate them back to the creek and temporary isolation was also installed to prevent more Bull Trout from being stranded. A fish habitat and stream remediation plan was completed and initial work was conducted by AEP in late fall 2017 using heavy equipment to reclaim the trail and rebuild stream banks that had been impacted by the trail which crossed the stream an average of six times per kilometer.
Rocky Creek Electrofishing
In spring 2018, TUC hired Haley Tunna to lead the 2018 SWAT project activities and it was off to the races with volunteer workdays in April to harvest 2200 live willow stakes which were then planted at sites along Rocky Creek during volunteer workdays in May and June. Further north in the Pembina River watershed, TUC staff worked with the Northern Lights Fly Fishers Chapter on a riparian restoration project along Dismal Creek, a focal stream for the chapter’s efforts to recover Arctic Grayling populations in the region. During two workdays in early May, the chapter and TUC staff harvested and planted 700 live willow stakes along 100 m of eroding streambank.
Haley With Willows
In southern Alberta, the SWAT team visited a pair of “shotgun culverts” on unnamed tributaries of Waiparous Creek in the Ghost River watershed. Westslope Cutthroat Trout and Brook Trout were found upstream and downstream of both culverts, and a single Bull Trout was found below each of the culverts. TUC is working with AEP to determine the feasibility and potential impact of restoring connectivity at these sites, taking into consideration the genetic purity of these Cutthroat Trout and potential risks of future hybridization with Rainbow Trout. In the Crowsnest River watershed, Hatfield Consultants completed design work for a TUC-led riparian rehabilitation project at a slumping bank site along Girardi Creek, a critical habitat stream for Westslope Cutthroat Trout, listed as Threatened under the Species at Risk Act.
Slumping Bank on Girardi Creek
As summer unfolded, the SWAT team headed to the North Saskatchewan River watershed to work in partnership with AEP to decommission 9 km of OHV trail and 54 OHV crossings, and plant 3400 rooted willow plugs along Fall Creek. Following the initial blitz of work using an excavator to rip up the former trail, TUC volunteers, students from Lakeland College, Sundre Forest Products employees, and additional volunteers helped to install an additional 800 rooted willow plugs to speed up the recovery of former trails. Following the Fall Creek project, the SWAT team assisted AEP with another year of fisheries sampling along Quirk Creek. In late August TUC returned south to the Girardi Creek watershed to conduct a pre-construction site visit at the planned bank rehabilitation site, as well as documenting additional habitat rehab opportunities upstream where OHV trails and cattle grazing are impacting riparian health and aquatic habitat. September was another busy month for the SWAT team, with projects taking place along Hidden Creek and an unnamed tributary of Anderson Creek in the McLeod River system. Volunteer workdays were hosted along the Crowsnest River and Racehorse Creek to collect live willow stakes for work along Hidden Creek and Girardi Creek; both projects in which TUC partnered with the provincial Southern Alberta Fisheries Habitat Enhancement and Sustainability (FISHES) program. Willows were helicoptered from Racehorse Creek to Hidden Creek and a volunteer workday was held a few days later with TUC Volunteers and Cows and Fish. Along the unnamed tributary of Anderson Creek staff from TransCanada Corporation were on hand to help kick off construction assisting TUC staff with isolating the worksite, harvesting willow stakes, and conducting a fish rescue to ensure that any fish present in the work area were relocated upstream of the work area. Following the fish rescue, an excavator got to work building a constructed riffle crest feature to backwater the culvert – eliminating the vertical drop and reconnecting 12 km of upstream habitat.
Fall Creek Trail Reclamation
In October, construction at the slumping bank site along Girardi Creek was completed with the installation of five lodgepole pine tree revetments along the bottom of the slope and two brush layers with 250 live willow poles and side branches, transplanting of native shrubs from the original work area, and distribution of woody debris throughout the work site to prevent erosion and speed up recovery of the site. The SWAT project wrapped up with the SWAT team pitching in to help with a riparian rehabilitation project along Silvester Creek lead by the Elbow River Watershed Partnership during the first week of November along with a number of stakeholder groups including AEP, Cows and Fish, and TUC’s Bow River Chapter.
Northern Lights Chapter Members Planting
Overall, the SWAT Program was successful in implementing 11 habitat rehabilitation volunteer workdays with 85 volunteers in 6 watersheds along the eastern slopes to support the recovery of native fish populations. We planted 9,250 willow stakes and plugs, helping to improve habitat, reduce sedimentation, and reconnect over 40 km of habitat. We installed eight project signs and distributed 500 rack cards engaging and educating stakeholders about the value of healthy streams and habitat for fish, wildlife, and people. We are very thankful for all of the staff, project partners, stakeholders, volunteers, TUC members, and supporters who made the SWAT Project possible!
Volunteers at Rocky Creek
For more information about this or other TUC projects, please contact Elliot Lindsay, Project Biologist.
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