Last February, Ducks Unlimited Canada and partners began work on the innovative Sturgeon Bank Sediment Enhancement Pilot Project intended to restore tidal marsh and support coastal flood protection.
This tidal marsh west of Richmond has been declining in size, affecting its ability to keep up with rising sea levels and jeopardizing critical habitat for creatures like juvenile salmon and waterfowl.
You may have spotted curious machinery spraying what looked like mud out on Sturgeon Bank. Re-using sediment dredged from the Fraser River to maintain the shipping channel, the project used long sections of temporary pipe and a special nozzle to distribute the sediment on the tidal flats.
The new sediment is meant to enhance the Fraser’s natural sediment deposits, which have been greatly altered by a century of human intervention.
When we think about habitat restoration, a “rainbow of mud” may not be the first picture that comes to mind. But the approximately 11,000 cubic metres of new sediment distributed on Sturgeon Bank should help new plants move in and help protect the area from coastal flooding. The second addition of sediment is planned for this fall.
Teams are monitoring the area using drone-aided mapping, water turbidity measurements and sampling for vegetation, biofilm, invertebrates and juvenile salmon. If the results from monitoring prove the project to be successful, it can be applied broadly across the Fraser Delta, home to so many native plant, fish and wildlife species.
The project is led by Ducks Unlimited Canada in partnership with Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Tsawwassen First Nation, and the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance. It is funded by the BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund through Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Province of B.C., with additional funding from Tsawwassen First Nation and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
Editor’s note: Nature Notes is a monthly column produced by the Delta Naturalists and their community partners. For info on monthly meetings and more see www.dncb.wordpress.com and www.facebook.com/DeltaNats/.
