Between 2014 and 2020, Splitrock Environmental worked on a riparian (zone adjacent to wetlands) enhancement project on the Carpenter Reservoir Drawdown Zone to restore some of the natural habitat that once thrived on the Bridge River Valley.
This BRGWORKS-1 project took place just east of Gold Bridge, B.C., and is one of 16 Bridge-Seton Water Use Plan projects being implemented in the watersheds. Throughout this seven year project, both extensive research and rounds of trial and error were used in an attempt to restore some of the natural habitat that was lost. Native species of vegetation, including grasses, sedges, rushes, horsetails, willows and cottonwood were used to kickstart growth—plants were seeded, rooted plants were placed and trenches were dug as a home for live stake cuttings.
While it can be difficult to find plants to resist drought for part of the growing season and sit at the bottom of a lake for the rest, multiple species that can tolerate the extremes of a dry spring/summer followed by mid-to-late summer flooding were identified. This allowed for experiments to physically change the soil shape to encourage seed establishment and growth. These seeds were then harvested from regional sites and grown at Splitrock’s local nursery. Now, BRGWORKS-1 is being monitored and guided through the BRGMON-2 program, under the management of the Splitrock team.
Details reports for both projects can be found here: