RiverWatch Interpretation - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

RiverWatch

Interpretation

Calgary Natural and Human History with Teacher Notes

This Power Point

will help

you review your

RiverWatch

experience. It can be used to enhance understanding of the ecology of the Bow River and human influences.Slide2

RiverWatch and Alberta Education Curriculum Connections

Environmental and Outdoor Education Environmental Core – Students will demonstrate awareness and appreciation of living things and an understanding of basic ecological processesEnvironmental Investigations - Students will develop knowledge and skills by investigating the effects of human lifestyles on environments

Science 8 Fresh and Saltwater Systems -Students will describe the distribution and characteristics of water in local and global environments, and identify the significance of water supply and quality to the needs of humans and other living things

Science 9

Environmental

Chemistry – students will

i

dentify processes for measuring the quantity of different substances in the environment and for

m

onitoring air and water quality.

Biological Diversity

– students will investigate

and interpret diversity among species and within species, and describe how

diversity contributes

to species

survival

Biology 20

Ecosystems

& Population

Change –

S

tudents

become familiar with a range of ecosystems by studying their distinctive biotic and abiotic characteristics. Students are introduced to the concept of populations as a basic component of ecosystem structure and complete the unit by examining population change through the process of natural selection.Slide3

Cushing Bridge

RiverWatch rafts encounter seven bridges

. The bridges are different types depending on their purpose. Cushing Bridge is an example of a cantilever bridge. Think of two diving boards stretching out from each shore to meet in the middle.

An advantage

of this type of bridge is that it does not need a

center pillar, resulting in more

open area under the bridge for boats and rafts

.

This

is the only cantilever bridge in Calgary and was

named after the Honorable William Henry Cushing, who served as an Alderman and Mayor of Calgary and

was one of the first Provincial

Cabinet

Ministers

in the early 1900’s.Slide4

Deposition on Inside Bends

Deposition is the dropping of sediment, pebbles or even large stones. It occurs when the speed of a river slows down and it cannot carry the same amount of sediment as when it was moving fast.

Note that due to the continual movement of rocks by water, stone-on-stone impacts pound off the edges and leave rounded cobbles. Smooth,

rounded cobbles are a sign of a long and rough journey from the Rocky Mountains.

As a

river slows

down on the inside of a bend, it drops

rocks, gravel and sand, with the heavier material sorting out first. Note how the stones on this gravel bar have been

sorted

according to size

.

Gravel bars are left by the process of deposition on slower, inside river bends.Slide5

Erosion on Outside Bends

On the

outside bends of a river, water has to move faster

to keep up. Just like the

outer tire of a bicycle

wheel has to move faster than the

centre

hub

because it is travelling a further distance in the same

amount of time

.

Faster

moving water contributes to erosion on

outside river bends

and produces what is called a

“

c

ut

b

ank”.

Notice that tree roots in this photo have been undercut and left hanging in the air.Slide6

Bank Armour – Concrete Slabs

In

days past, anything

that would hold back the force of erosion was

used on outside river bends

– no matter

how

unattractive it might appear now. This dump of concrete slabs may look ugly but it has a job to do!

Nowadays, we’re concerned that concrete

contains chemicals that

may

leach in the river over a long period of time

. The exposed rebar steel is also a hazard to inflatable rafts.

Concrete slabs are no longer acceptable as bank

armouring

on outside river bends. This site is a legacy of past thinking.Slide7

Bank Armour – Limestone Rip Rap

Although erosion is natural

phenomenon, it can be very

destructive

to

city

infrastructure such as bridges

,

roads, houses and pathways.

The

rocks piled

on the outside river bank

are examples of bank

armour

. This bank

amour

is made of limestone

dynamited

in the R

ockies and transported here.

The

purpose of the bank

armour

is to prevent further erosion of the river bank

.

The term rip rap is interchangeable with bank

armour

. Think of the rocks “wrapping” the river bank in a suit of

armour

.Slide8

Living Close

to the Edge

During the 2013 flood, extensive erosion by fast moving water plowed into the river bank, trees, the pathway and half a street before City of Calgary emergency crews were able dump limestone armour onto the river bank. This action saved the row of homes along 8 Avenue S.E. from possibly falling into the river.Compare the river bank in these two photos taken at the same location. The photo on the left was taken before the flood; the photo on the right was taken after the flood. What has changed?Slide9

Bank Swallow Colony

Bank swallows are

small, low flying birds that make their homes in the sides of small cliffs. They burrow into the cliff about a

metre

deep to

discourage predators. The result

is a cut bank riddled with small

holes that serve as nesting sites

. If there is a preferred, softer layer of soil, you can see that the swallow burrows tend to line-up in a row.

The swallow’s scientific name is

Riparia

riparia

which is Latin for riverbank and very fitting. Bank swallows

return

to

the same

colony each year and may reuse old burrows or dig new ones.  A nest of grass and feathers is placed in the small chamber at the end of the burrow.

Bank swallows almost exclusively eat

the flying

insect stages of mayflies, caddisflies and mosquitoes.

Bank swallows over

winter in South

America

and use this colony site for a relatively short time in May and June.Slide10

BA Refinery Exposed

The concrete walls of this old building were long buried underground in the old BA oil refinery site but exposed by the erosive force of the flood of 2013. This structure was removed soon after the flood in an effort to make the river safer for boat navigation.

What remains at this site now are a bit o rapid and rock groynes placed to improve fish habitat .Slide11

Test Site OneThis inside gravel bar serves

as Test Site #1. At this location, a number of water quality tests are conducted on samples from the Bow River. Just as when you go to your doctor for a physical to have tests done on your blood or urine, we will be checking the health of the river using physics, biology and chemistrySlide12

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

After Flood

This photo captures some of the destruction caused by the flood of 2013 along the shore of the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. The sun-bleached trunks of giant cottonwoods lie beached in a calm section of the river after they were ripped out of the riverbank by powerful flood waters. The trunks are now used as perches for cormorants, wood ducks and mergansers.Slide13

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

In 1883, NWMP Colonel James Walker settled the land that is now occupied by the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. In 1929, Colonel Walker’s son Selby applied to the Federal Government for 59 acres on the west side of the Bow River to be designated a Federal Migratory Bird Sanctuary. When Selby died in 1953, Ed Jaffies

acquired the property and leased it to Alberta Fish and Game Association. In 1970 the City of Calgary purchased the property and has been managing it as a now 80-acre natural reserve and education centre.Slide14

Cottonwoods

Cottonwoods – these particular trees are black poplars or balsam poplars - line

the bank of the Bow River and are well established at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. Cottonwood seeds will not germinate without a

high water event or flood

.

In an amazing example of great timing and adaptation, June winds carry cottonwood seed fluff

to mud flats left by receding spring high water or floods. This ensures the seeds

have enough water as their roots extend downward and thereby increase the chances

of surviving.

T

rillions of new cottonwoods can germinate under the right conditions. Here is a tree species that is connected to the up and down life of a river – amazing!

C

ottonwoods provide habitat for insects, birds , bats and mammals. They even provide habitat for fish when you think about it.Slide15

Riparian Area Biodiversity

Compare opposite sides of the Bow River with the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary (IBS) on the west bank and the Inglewood Golf Course on the east bank. Both are located in the riparian or flood zone alongside the river.

The Inglewood Bird Sanctuary is a very diverse ecosystem. More than 270 bird species call this area home, about 347 plant species and 21 mammal species. Numerous small organisms live in dead or fallen trees, grasses and soil. IBS is a Dark Sky Sanctuary that attracts migrating birds. The

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary is an example of a highly diverse

ecosystem with high biodiversity.

This is a photo of a the IBS lagoon that cannot be seen from the river, but does illustrate the high diversity in the ecosystem.Slide16

Golf Course Biodiversity

Golf courses do not have a diverse population of organisms. They are mostly a monoculture of grasses with a few segmented areas of trees and shrubs. While golf courses are some of the least impactful developments

in the flood plain and likely better development than houses, the Inglewood Golf Course is an example of an ecosystem with low biodiversity.The use of herbicides and fertilizers on golf courses is regulated and carefully controlled.

U

nregulated

source of

fertilizers or herbicides are

the lawns of Calgarians who enjoy

green, weed-free

grass. Fertilizer contains phosphates and nitrates which are nutrients and

may contribute

to

excessive plant

growth in the river.Slide17

Eddies

Eddies are

relatively calm sections of the river formed by the protection of an outcrop of rocks, land, island or bridge pillar. Fish and paddlers enjoy relaxing in the eddies as the eddy provides temporary relief from

fast

moving rapids.Slide18

Organic Rebar – Natural Bank Armour

Rebar is a short word that refers to a reinforced steel bar (rebar) that is

encased by wet concrete to make the hardened concrete stronger. Intertwining tree roots act like organic

rebar and

help

soil resist erosion.

In this photo, you

can see the flood plain of the Bow River above the cut bank. This is the area that water travels

over

during a flood.

.Slide19

Habitat Loss

After the flood of

2005, Inglewood Golf Course personnel and City Parks were concerned about the stability of this bank along the river. Permission was granted to reinforce the area with bank armour to protect the nearby putting green. Unfortunately, the rock

armour

placed here in 2006 covered over the largest bank

swallow

colony

in the City of Calgary, which had been identified by the Calgary Urban Parks Master Plan as being sensitive and deserving of protection.

The bank swallow colony no longer exists at this location.Slide20

Bird Migration:

This mist net, which is much like a badminton net, is located at the

downstream end of the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. This is a restricted section of the IBS which limits access to researchers and birding volunteers. The mist nets temporarily trap birds so that they can be banded. Birding volunteers inspect the net at regular intervals so no bird will spend much time in the net.

This is a photo of a dead yellow-

rumped

warbler found Sept 9th 2015 below the windows of the

Bonnybrook

UV Building.  It

was likely

banded in the mist nets at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and unfortunately only made it as far as

Bonnybrook

before hitting the window. It was dropped

off

at the Bird Sanctuary but emails

inquiring

of the history of the bird were never returned.

Why do

researchers band

birds?Slide21

Storm Water Outfalls

Storm water

outfalls usually lead from the grated drains in city streets

directly to the Bow River. Anything that goes down the street drains

with rainwater or snow melt ends

up in the

Bow River.

Some

drains on the street have a small fish painted beside

them

to remind people of the direct link to the river.Slide22

Oil Reclamation Outfall

This outfall is fed by water from the Inglewood Wildlands, which is an oil refinery reclamation site located behind the railway tracks. From approximately the 1940’s to 1970’s about 1.5 million

litres of oil spilled on this property. Since then, a very impressive oil reclamation project has been going on. A skimmer pump

floats

on the

underground water

table and separates oil from

water. The groundwater is pumped out this outfall and

oil

is pumped to

the surface. The oil is then sent to an oil recycling

facility.

With the end of the successful reclamation project, water no longer flows from this outfall.Slide23

Alyth

Rail YardsThe CPR rail yards have been located close to the Bow River since the 1880’s. They were originally built close to the

river for a variety of reasons: steam engines and the need for water;

flat

land was available adjacent

to fledgling

Calgary; and log

booms from Prince’s Island were floated here and

loaded on trains

(this was the River of Wood at one time).Slide24

Western Irrigation District

Canal (WID)

Water from the BowRiver is diverted and carried east to

Chestermere Lake and then on to farm crops by a series of canals

in the

Western Irrigation District. The original purpose of

the canals

was to encourage settlers to farm lands east of Calgary in the 1880’s to 1900’s

.

During heavy stormwater events, excess water

in the canal needed

to

be

returned to the

Bow River.

The series of concrete baffles or ”steps” in the spillway

dispelled

moving water energy that might otherwise

have eroded

railway bridge pillars

.

This infrastructure is no longer

used,

as surging

stormwater

from NE Calgary is now directed to Sheppard Lagoons instead of back into the Bow River.Slide25

CPR Bridge

Close CallThese

photos

show the

CNR bridge and the CPR bridge

as they appear now and after the 2013 the flood. During the

flood,

the

CPR bridge

(bridge with train on

it,

left slide) collapsed while

rail

cars loaded with

petrochemicals crossed.

A number of cars dangled precariously above the Bow River. Cranes were quickly brought in and the cars were lifted

without petrochemicals

entering the Bow River

.Slide26

Bonnybrook

Bridge Flood ScouringN

ote the upper scour line on these pillars which indicates the high water mark during the 2013 flood. Moving water and grit have scrubbed a clear line onto the concrete. At its peak, the Bow River was flowing at 1747 cubic metres per second and the Elbow River contributed another 556 cms.Slide27

Bow River Flow Rates

The graph on the left illustrates the flow rate of the Bow River in 2014 with an average spring peak of approximately 325

m3/sec. The graph on the right illustrates the flow rate of the Bow River during 2013, with the flood spike over 1600 m3/sec!!Slide28

Effects of

Added Nutrients Contrast the appearance of rocks

and water prior to the Bonnybrook Wastewater Treatment Plant and the rocks and water in the eddy where the rafts are docked. The change in amount of algae and plant life is a result of the addition nutrients from the treatment plantSlide29

Bonnybrook

WastewaterTreatment Plant

This is the outfall of the Bonnybrook Watewater Treatment Plant. This is the point where the treated water is allowed to flow back into the Bow River.Treated wastewater effluent is the manipulated variable in comparing water quality upstream and downstream of Bonnybrook.Slide30

Calf Robe Bridge

Calf Robe Bridge was built in the 1970’s to connect the Deerfoot

Trail with the southern communities of Douglasdale, McKenzie and with Glenmore Trail and Highway 22X.The designers of the bridge put a gentle turn in

Deerfoot

Trail,

and combined with moisture from the warm

waste effluent

below, produces a very slick road in the winter. With traffic moving at 100km per hour this leads to many accidents in winter

.

The bridge was named after Ben Calf Robe, a

Sisksika

Chief that worked to bring aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities closer.Slide31

Lynnview Ridge

Between 1923 and 1975, Imperial Oil owned and operated a petroleum refinery north of the neighbourhood of Lynnview

. The refinery was decommissioned from 1975 to 1977 and residential houses were later built on the land. During decommission , there were no regulatory soil standards relating to lead or hydrocarbons

. In 2001, concerns about lead and hydrocarbon contamination arose as a result of soil testing in

Lynnview

Ridge. After

years of discussions and consultations,

Imperial oil bought the houses of the residents for 120% of their

year 2000 tax

assessment, and the vast majority of homeowners moved out. Slide32

Test

Site Two

and Timber CribsAs you navigate the Test Site #2 eddy, look to your left and observe the Timber Cribs. These wooden slats house fast growing plants that will develop large root systems which will prevent erosion. This is one more type of bank

armour

– but it more natural than old concrete slabs and rip rap boulders

.Slide33

The Upper Bow River Basin

The Bow River starts with the seasonal melting of

snow and some of the ice of the Bow Glacier located in Banff National Park. These are the headwaters of the Bow River.W

ater

then flows into Bow Lake and the Bow River. It then flows east through the towns of Lake

Louise and Banff, where

it flows over the Bow

Falls and onto

Canmore

and Cochrane before arriving in Calgary

.

Each municipality using

Bow River

water

i

s responsible for treating

wastewater. Cochrane is so close to Calgary that it’s wastewater is

piped to

Bonnybrook

for treatment.

What is a river basin?Slide34

Bow River After Calgary

The Bow River Basin is shaped like a triangle as it leaves its source in the Rockies Mountains and travels east and south to Hudson’s Bay. The size of the upper basin can mean that a great deal of runoff can concentrate by the time it reaches Calgary – hence the high risk of flooding. The total length of the Bow River is 587 km

.What communities does the Bow River run through on its journey to the ocean?Slide35

Reviewing the Blue

Ribbon Bow

The Bow River is a world famous trout fishing location. Famous for brown trout (left) and rainbow trout (right) the only native trout is the bull trout.In 1925 a fish hatchery truck broke down en route from Banff to central Alberta delivering a load of non native brown trout. Rather than let the fish die, the trout were released

into Carrot Creek. Within a few

decades.

brown

trout fishing below Banff had become world famous.

There are about 2 500 trout per

kilometre

in the Bow River.Slide36

Graves LandingGraves landing

was a boat launch located under the Glenmore Bridge. This landing provided access for fire department rescue as well as recreational uses such as

fishing. The 2013 flood dramatically changed river access at this location by depositing huge amounts of gravel that pushed the river away from the west bank. This is now the end of this boat launch and the end of our journey. Slide37

The EndWe hope you have enjoyed your RiverWatch experience.