CAMPBELL RIVER, B.C. – The large Jubilee wetland project has reached another milestone.
Some of the wetland areas have been sculpted to include a range of depths. Peat was applied to increase organic covering and coarse woody debris was placed in select areas to add habitat complexity, according to the city.
In a release, Campbell River’s environment specialist Terri Martin said, “completing the underlying framework is an important milestone.”
“The wetland is located in a basin with no overland surface flow to adjacent creeks. It’s vital to get the hydrological aspects right, and quite a bit of work has gone into this. There might be some fine tuning to do once we have a chance to see how this new system works, but this phase is largely completed now.”
Earlier this year, biologists relocated a few Pacific tree frogs and northern red-legged frogs, as well as close to 240 Pacific northwestern salamaders to deep water pools, so water levels could be lowered for machine access in the wetlands.
“We had several opportunities to meet on site with the qualified environmental professional to see the restoration unfolding,” Martin said in the release.
“This is a large project and it was quite an eye opener to hear from the biologist about the various challenges of transforming a paper plan into the beginnings of restored habitat.”
The City said that Parkway Properties had already removed an extensive amount of invasive Scotch broom and blackberry. Removal efforts continued this year.
The team of biologists is now working on a planting plan for the fall season. Parkway Properties is also working to register the conservation covenant on the 2.1 hectares of forest land near the west property boundary that is part of the conservation solution as set out in the development permit.
By the end of this year, a post development report will be made to summarize the restoration work to date and present the as-built areas of habitat. A five-year post construction monitoring plan will also be submitted.
Plans to restore the wetland followed a city council requirement in December 2016 for a combination of wetland restoration and compensation land at a two-to-one replacement ratio for the northern portion of the in-filled fen wetland south of Jubilee Parkway.
“The solution includes retaining two existing provincially red-listed (endangered) trembling aspen forested wetlands and existing forest land on the west side of the property bordering the Woods Creek wetland. Conservation targets (including strategies to reduce threats to targets) as well as ongoing monitoring and measurement of key ecological attributes will use accepted scientific methods and best practices,” read the release from the city.
Last year, the city issued the development permit for the restoration.
