Restored wetland near Kanata starting to teem with life
Culverts had previously been draining the land for agriculture and blocked flow of groundwater
A wetland restoration project in the heart of Ottawa's Greenbelt has led to an explosion of biodiversity.
Birds such as mallards, killdeer and red-winged blackbirds have returned to the area off Corkstown Road and Moodie Drive after one season of restoration work.
Fish and amphibians are also increasing in number and making the wetland home again.
"I get really excited to see who has moved in, and who is using certain habitat types," said Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) aquatic biologist Jennifer Lamoureux, who designed the wetland's features.
Before the restoration project, the area was overrun with a monoculture of reed canary grass, with little to no biodiversity, she said.
Culverts had been draining the land for agriculture and blocked the flow of groundwater, leaving the wetland dry for most of the year.
The Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre saw the dry wetland and voiced their concerns to the RVCA and the National Capital Commission (NCC).
"When you see a year-round decline in water levels, that's when the alarm bells come," said Lamoureux.
"It is, as they call it, 'death by a thousand cuts.' You start to see changes in vegetation, declines in diversity and invasive species moving in. That was a concern."
The RVCA worked with the NCC to build three deep wetland ponds and connect the area to a groundwater system, which allowed groundwater to flow again.
In the fall, volunteers planted more than 350 shrubs and trees around the area, and by June, biologists and RVCA staff observed major changes.
An abundance of pollinators, fish and birds, as well as some deer and muskrats, had re-established themselves.
"We've been seeing a lot of their [deer] tracks around the wetland. They use it as a watering hole," Lamoureux said
Wetlands act as homes for plants, animals, birds, as well as bacteria that clean and filter water. They reduce flooding by acting like a sponge, and store carbon.
When Lamoureux visits the restored wetland, she looks in the trees to see if herons have made nests.
"It'll be nice if we end up with a few pairs of herons. If we can get them to move back here, that would be a huge win," she said.
"But it takes time. Some organisms take a little longer to move in and others are fairly quick."
The RVCA will be monitoring the wetland monthly for the next five years.
With files from CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning and Ash Abraham