Project Profiles - Canada

Wetlands and Watersheds: East Annex Project
by Leigh Patterson and Joy Gregory, Ducks Unlimited Canada

What began as a simple drainage project is now a model of multi-agency and community co-operation in watershed planning. The East Annex Project is a restored wetland/upland complex that spans 5 square miles and successfully meets the needs of all partners while retaining the integrity and "best use" of the land.

The project is situated near Big Hay Lake, 25 kilometers northwest of Camrose, in the heart of central Alberta's Aspen Parkland Biome. Characterized by its abundant and diverse wetland habitat, this biome is a North American Waterfowl Management Plan priority area.

East Annex lies within a flood-prone area in the Big Hay Lake Drainage District (District). The original project design proposed by the District with Alberta Environment would have seriously reduced or eliminated the area's remaining wetland base. Instead, Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) encouraged a watershed management plan that emphasized maintaining and restoring wetlands. According to Michael Barr, a DUC biologist in Camrose, "The project addresses the full range of watershed management needs, from flood control and habitat conservation to improvement of prime agricultural lands."

The project included a combination of new drains or drain improvements, landowner access crossings, and dams or dykes with variable-level water-control structures. Two significant wetland restorations totaling 214 acres were involved in the design. One is a managed backflood (Washing Lake) and the other a permanent basin (Mallows Lake). The total wetland area increased from 165 acres to 379 acres.

The East Annex Project was co-operatively planned, designed, and negotiated over several years and was finally completed in 1999. Integral to its success was the partnerships established with local landowners. "We saw it as a project where the community and habitat conservationists both had something to gain," says Alberta Environment Water Management Engineer Doug Yeremy. "It is an example of sound water management that gives the community an opportunity for input into the process of watershed planning."

It's a "win-win" situation for everyone. With the largely expanded wetland area, the waterfowl breeding population is expected to more than double. The backflood area at Washing Lake enhances habitat for spring breeding pairs and migrant shorebirds. As the water is drawn down, more vegetative cover is provided to promote nesting. This also benefits farmers because native hay cuts can be made after nesting season when the water level is lowest and hay quality and quantity are maximized. The permanent wetland area at Mallows Lake also provides essential and continuing habitat for diving ducks, grebes, black terns, and other wetland-dependent wildlife.

The East Annex Project is an example of how watershed issues can be resolved for the benefit of people and wildlife. Overall, this project is favored by the local community. It serves as an example for future projects with landowners.

For more information, contact Michael Barr, Ducks Unlimited Canada, 5015 – 49th Street, Camrose, Alberta T4V 1N5, (780) 672-6786, m_barr@ducks.ca.

Alberta Environment
Alberta Agriculture, Food, and Rural Development
Big Hay Lake Drainage District
Environment Canada - Natural Legacy 2000 Program
Ducks Unlimited Canada
Landowners

Big Sandy Bay
by Linda Turner, Nature Conservancy of Canada

Thousands of ducks, geese, and other migratory birds can continue to safely stop over at Big Sandy Bay, located on the southwest corner of Wolfe Island in Lake Ontario, just south of Kingston. Primarily an alder, willow, black ash, soft maple, and cattail swamp, the wetland is found on a relatively flat limestone shoreline behind 35 acres of sand dunes and a small area of open-water marsh.

Big Sandy Bay is now protected because Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), Ontario Region, worked in conjunction with Environment Canada's Canadian Wildlife Service, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to purchase the 140-acre wetland for just over $160,000.

As part of its commitment to the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, NCC began negotiations after hearing from Kingston's DUC chapter that the site was for sale. The property is now protected and managed as a wildlife area by the MNR.

Little wonder that the ducks love it—Big Sandy Bay has it all. A gently sloping limestone plain leads to sandy shoreline and a wetland basin that developed behind a barrier sand bar. There is a large swamp thicket, a shoreline marsh, a deciduous swamp forest, a bog, coastal sand ridges, and dunes. There is even a small upland sugar maple, American beech, and red oak grove. The surrounding interior plains have two limestone peninsulas that jut out into the lake, forming a wetland basin that supports habitat best suited to attract black-crowned night heron, least bittern, northern pintail, northern shoveler, northern harrier, black tern, and sedge and marsh wrens.

On Big Sandy Bay, the American bittern, caspian and common terns, common moorhen, American woodcock, common snipe, and diving ducks, such as goldeneye, bufflehead, and scaup, share space with muskrat, raccoon, mink, and fox. Nesters that can be found on the bay are gadwall, northern pintail, blue-winged teal, American wigeon, northern shoveler, and wood duck. The wood ducks take advantage of boxes placed in the wetland.

Before the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture protected Big Sandy Bay, the property was threatened by residential development, farmland encroachment, and all-terrain-vehicle disturbance of the sand dune and beach habitat. Now the ducks, geese, and other migratory birds have a preserved, safe, and supportive habitat.

"The preservation of Big Sandy Bay is a perfect example of the benefits to Great Lakes habitat when conservation organizations work effectively together to accomplish Plan goals and the concrete result of our commitment to that science-based program," commented James Duncan, Director of Land Protection, Ontario Region, Nature Conservancy of Canada.

For more information, contact James Duncan, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ontario Region Office, 121 Wyndham Street North, #202, Guelph, Ontario N1H 4E9, (519) 826-0783 extension 224, jamesd@natureconservancy.ca.

Saskatchewan's Barvas Marsh Complex
by Leigh Patterson, Ducks Unlimited Canada

The Barvas Marsh Complex in east-central Saskatchewan is a rare remnant of native parkland habitat within a landscape of intensive agriculture. Left in an idle state for over 20 years, it is a mosaic of native grass, forbs, shrub, and tree species combined with a range of productive wetlands.

Located east of Yorkton, this 960-acre purchase and lease falls within the North American Waterfowl Management Plan's (Plan) Pheasant Hills Key program area. According to Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) biologist David Kostersky, the complex is significant due to the large acreage of intact native habitat. This is no small measure of achievement, considering that over 70 percent of the region's native prairie and wetlands have been cultivated and drained. The Barvas marsh system falls within the Upper Assiniboine River Basin watershed, where drainage is very active and wetland loss and disturbance extensive. In fact, remains of old drainage works built in the 1930s and 1940s were discovered running through several of the Barvas wetlands now protected under the Prairie CARE (Conservation of Agriculture, Resources and Environment) purchase and lease programs.

The cooperating landowners who agreed to sell or lease their land are "good neighbours," says Kostersky. "The soil quality of Barvas is poor, so they didn't lose land with agricultural value." Since the project was functioning well after being idle for so long, restoration work was not necessary. Further management of the complex will be determined over the next 3 years.

The habitat acquisition through Plan partners contributes greatly to biodiversity conservation. Its wetlands are shallow and interspersed with vegetation providing ideal habitat for breeding, moulting, and staging waterfowl. Many other avian species, amphibians, insects, and mammals also benefit.

To promote inter-agency cooperation, DUC partnered with the Yorkton Natural History Society (Society) to conduct periodic plant and animal surveys at the complex. Using a multi-species inventory checklist designed by Nature Saskatchewan and DUC, volunteers from the Society recorded 72 bird, 9 mammal, 90 flowering plant (including the rare yellow lady's slipper), 2 frog, 1 toad, 12 grass, 2 trees, and 5 shrub species. Accumulation of this baseline data is critical to understanding and quantifying prairie biodiversity. It also helps measure the impact of Plan programs on the prairie land base, enabling resource managers to make informed decisions. These surveys have piqued the interest of media and the conservation community, garnering the Society and DUC-Yorkton the 1995 Nature Saskatchewan Annual Conservation Award.

Growing interest in natural areas, like the Barvas Marsh Complex reinforces the importance of conservation. The complex offers self-guided nature tours designed by DUC's Nature Watch Program.

Meanwhile, threat of fragmentation of other valuable remnants looms large. The unsecured areas of relatively intact, native parkland habitat surrounding the Barvas Marsh Complex are currently at high risk of loss. According to Kostersky: "DUC is continuing to pursue all avenues of habitat securement to ensure this extremely diverse and productive area remains intact."

For more information, contact Dave Kostersky, Ducks Unlimited Canada, P.O. Box 1299, Highway 16A West, Yorkton, Saskatchewan S3N 2X3, (306) 782-2108, d_kostersky@ducks.ca.