Bowmont West Fish Habitat Enhancement Project
Project update - March 2019
- The Bowmont West Fish Habitat Enhancement Project was completed in July 2019.
About the Project
Following the 2013 flood, The City undertook a number of projects to repair and reinforce riverbanks along the Bow River. These projects helped protect critical City infrastructure, but in some cases had negative impacts on sensitive fish habitat along the river.
The historical river side channels adjacent to the Bowmont West Park were identified as an excellent location to provide compensation for the loss of fish habitat. Construction of the Bowmont West Fish Habitat Enhancement was completed in July 2019.
The site is located at the west side of Bowmont Park and the fish compensation work was located on the north bank of the Bow River. The project consisted of the following:
- Reopening historic side channels.
- Re-establishing flow to the side channels, through excavation and re-contouring, to provide year-round connectivity from and to the main channel of the Bow River.
- Construction of additional fish habitat structures using large trees and boulders.
- Re-planting all areas that were disturbed by the flood and construction.
- Replacing the north pedestrian bridge with a longer single span bridge to accommodate the widened river side channel.
Post Construction
Although the construction of the project is complete, the contractor will continue to monitor and irrigate the newly planted vegetation to ensure its establishment. The contractor will be driving vehicles along the pathways to access various locations within the park.