Successful Applicant:
Ellen's Creek Watershed Group Inc.
Award:
$2,640
Project Title:
Hazard Creek Wildlife Habitat Restoration and Enhancement
Project Summary:
This project focus on wildlife habitation enhancement in the Hazards Creek Watershed in the Charlottetown neighborhood of West Royalty. Hazard Creek is the narrow ribbon of greenspace that flows from the corner of Mt. Edward Road and the Charlottetown Bypass to the Queens Arm Intersection. With the replacement of the Queens Arm Intersection Crossing in 2017 improving connectivity at the mouth of Hazard Creek, 2 ponds with existing natural fish passage, this watercourse has some of the greatest potential for wildlife habitat in Charlottetown.
The PEI Wildlife Conservation Fund helped fund our summer filed crew who completed two bio-engineering activities. Bio-engineering addresses environmental problems by exploiting biological processes and resources. In one activity, native willows were planted in and along open storm drains flowing into the Creek. Willows are known for their ability to trap and filter contaminants as they grow.
In the second activity, spruce trees and boughs were tightly secured at two locations in an open ditch creating an organic filter which will trap sediment and garbage from entering the Creek. It is expected that these will eventually fill with sediment and form a series of check dams that will slow and trap storm water flowing into the Creek. As they fill in, more will be added, and willows or similar trees will be planted on the trapped soil. As they grow, they will stabilize the trapped soil and filter storm water contaminants.
The reducing or eliminating waterborne contaminants entering Hazards Creek is a critical objective for improving ecological health of this watershed. It will benefit wildlife habitat, and in particular brook trout habitat.