Summer riverbank projects going swimmingly during "fish window"
It’s finally feeling like summer and the August long weekend is around the corner. Calgarians love cycling along our pathways and floating on our rivers this time of year. But it’s not just fellow citizens you’ll see along our river’s edges this summer – you’ll likely see construction crews, too.
We have some important work to get done along our rivers. While it may seem unusual, even inconvenient to execute these projects when Calgarians are flocking riverside, we are working very hard to complete these projects within the regulated “fish window.”
What’s a fish window?
It’s all about protecting fish – construction work required in or along The Elbow and Bow rivers is governed by provincial (Alberta Environment & Parks) and federal (Fisheries & Oceans Canada) legislation. In Alberta, the Restricted Activity Period (RAP) exists to protect fish populations. Not only do you need approvals to work in the rivers, but there are also designated times of the year where in-stream work should be avoided. This leaves the ‘fish window’ from July 16-Sept. 15 annually, when we can do in-stream work. These timelines ensure that we’re not disturbing fish species or increasing sediment during important life-cycle stages such as migration, spawning, egg incubation or hatching.
If you happen to see crews repairing, improving or building along one of our rivers this summer, know that we have very short timelines to complete important work for our community – and still looking out for our freshwater friends.
Bow River
-
-
-
Outfall repair B119 (Diamond Cove)
Elbow River
-
Outfall repair E40 (Rideau/Roxboro)
-
Elbow Island Fish Compensation (Rideau/Mission)
Fish Creek
-
Bebo Grove Riverbank stabilization and storm pond
Pathways
-
Shouldice pathway lifecycle
-
Montgomery pathway raise
-
Construction of regional pathway - Heritage Dr. to Bonnybrook WWTP