NOSE CREEK REHABILITATION PROJECT
 ALBERTA’S NOSE CREEK originates near Carstairs and flows south for 75 km through Balzac, Airdrie and Calgary, before joining the Bow River. West Nose Creek originates northwest of Calgary flowing for 65 km before joining Nose Creek west of the Calgary International Airport.
The exceptional quality of the water in Nose Creek attracted European settlers and the railway, who developed the land along the creek. However, over time, Nose Creek has become one of the most polluted streams in Alberta.
Enter Trout Unlimited Canada. Trout Unlimited Canada is committed to cleaning up and restoring this watershed. This involves clean-up of litter and bioengineering projects to stabilize the eroded streambanks. At the 2006 National Fundraising Dinner in Calgary this project was put on the auction block. Everyone knows and appreciates that stream work takes cash, and eager corporate bidders competed with one another to fund this visible and worthwhile endeavour. Petro-Canada came out on top! They made their commitment to the tune of $20,000! The Calgary Foundation then matched this amount with their own generous donation of $19,500 for the project.
One component of the project included a Petro-Canada staff workday. More than forty of their employees came out to Nose Creek one beautiful summer day to learn about the issues facing this watershed. They got busy cleaning up litter, reinforcing eroded banks with willows, and planting willows to further sustain streamside riparian growth. We salute Petro-Canada for their generous donation of both money and employee effort. We look forward to the next steps in this process.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES:
 As Nose Creek flows directly through the City of Calgary, this project presents a unique and highly visible opportunity for TUC to demonstrate the effectiveness of its instream habitat conservation and restoration processes to a large urban population. Results on Nose Creek should serve as a showcase example of TUC’s commitment and capabilities to restore coldwater resources.
For more information on Nose Creek, or information on how you can take part in this project, contact Brian Meagher.
|
