Rosebud River watershed partnership formed to improve stream health

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A new partnership between Wheatland County and Rocky View County has formed to improve resiliency throughout the Rosebud River watershed by working with landowners to improve riparian health.
The partnership, formed between the two counties’ agricultural services departments, is supported by the Watershed Resiliency and Restoration Program (WRRP), a provincial grant created in response to the 2013 Alberta floods. The WRRP funds projects that are designed to enhance the natural abilities of watercourses and wetlands to “reduce the intensity, magnitude, duration and effects of flooding and drought.”
Within the Rosebud River watershed – which includes the Rosebud River and all its tributaries including Serviceberry Creek – enhancing watershed resiliency means improving the health of riparian areas such as streambanks, said Sarah Schumacher, Wheatland County agricultural conservation coordinator.
To meet this goal, the partnership will be working with landowners to redirect livestock away from streams by installing fencing and off-site watering systems, said Schumacher.
“The way we are addressing resiliency in the watershed is by trying to reduce livestock impact on those riparian areas around creeks so that those banks are better able to hold together during floods,” she said.
The projects will target “anywhere there is livestock that are currently directly accessing water in a creek as a source of their water,” including smaller, unnamed watercourses, she said. These efforts will improve riparian health by “having the right sort of plants holding the banks together.”
Approximately $186,000 is available from the WRRP to fund about a dozen projects throughout both counties, depending on site requirements and landowner preferences, said Schumacher. The grant will also be used to facilitate education and stewardship, including webinars and newsletter articles informing landowners about best management practices to enhance or maintain riparian health.
Landowners that participate in the program could also see benefits to the health and condition of their livestock, including “slightly increased weight gains,” said Schumacher.
“There’s been lots of research showing cattle will prefer to drink from a trough versus using that energy to get down into a creek,” she said. “Also, because they are not having to go down steep banks and muck about in the mud, they have fewer strains and physical issues such as foot rot.”