1. Project Title: Sawquin Creek Marsh Channel Creation Project
2. Contact
Alastair Mathers, Lake Ontario Project and Management Biologist
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), 1 Richmond Blvd., Napanee, Ontario K7R 3M8
Tel.: (613) 354-2173; FAX: (613) 354-4714
Karen Hartley, Wetlands Project Coordinator, Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan
Moira River Conservation Authority (MRCA), P.O. Box 698, Belleville, Ontario K8N 5B3
Tel.: (613) 968-3434; FAX: (613) 968-8240
3. Agencies Involved
The project was done as a fisheries compensation agreement by the town of Rossmore. Monitoring was conducted by Ontario MNR, Canadian Wildlife Service and MRCA.
4. Restoration goal
To compensate for the loss of 585 m2 of fish habitat from the construction of the Rossmore municipal water pipeline by creating spawning and nursery habitat for northern pike and other species.
5. Project Type
The expansion of an existing channel system by dredging new channels through a dense monoculture stand of cattails.
6. Background and Rationale
Sawquin Creek Marsh is a 1956 ha, Class 1 wetland located in Ameliasburgh Township on the Bay of Quinte. The wetland is dominated by extensive stands of monoculture cattails with low interspersion of open water, other vegetation forms and restricted fish use. Controlled water levels, the construction of causeways which reduced water flow, and land use practices that increased sediment and nutrient inputs to the marsh are thought to be the conditions that favoured cattail growth. Also, submergent macrophytes are thought to be limited on the Bay of Quinte due to low water clarity. The goal was to increase the amount of submergent vegetation and the interspersion of open water and emergent vegetation within a section of the marsh. This would create spawning and nursery habitat for several species of fish and feeding and breeding areas for marsh birds and herptiles.
7. Regulatory Considerations
A permit from the Ontario MNR to conduct work on shorelands was required.
8. Criteria
Several species of fish will migrate into shallow weedy channels to spawn (e.g., northern pike and yellow perch) or use as nursery habitat (e.g., largemouth bass, brown bullhead (Ictalurus nebulosus)). Channels had to be deep enough to ensure fish access spring through the fall, and constructed to provide a maximal amount of edge.
9. Project Design
Channels formed interconnecting loops approximately 3 m wide and 0.75-1 m deep during spring and early summer conditions. Dredged material was piled beside the channels to provide a substrate on which a variety of wetland plants could grow.
10. Implementation
A total of 380 m of channel were created resulting in an improved wetland area of 2 320 m2 and 720 m of edge. The channels were dug in August 1992 using a floating backhoe. due to the sponginess of the substrate (Peat/muck), approximately 3 m had to be removed to create a channel 1 m deep. Dredged material was piled on the sides of the channels.
11. Degree of Environmental Intervention
Approximately 1 140 m2 of cattails were converted to submergent marsh due to the dredging. More cattails (approximatly 775 m2) were also lost from piling dredged material on top of them, but were replaced by other emergent plants (and new cattails) in following years. Due to the timing of the work (August) it is unlikely that breeding fish or wildlife were affected.
12. Cost
Contracting of floating backhoe and operator: $2 040.00
Cost per metre of channel: $5.37
Cost per m2 of habitat: 0.88
13. Biological assessment
Observations of wildlife use of the channels were conducted in
the summer of 1993. In 1994, a comparison of the use of the dredged
area and solid cattail stands by marsh birds based on
vocalizations was conducted. Fish use of the channels and solid
cattails stands was compared based on catch per unit effort using
windemere traps in 1994.
14. Measures of Success
Great blue herons, american bitterns, mallards, wood ducks, leopard and green frogs and signs of deer and other birds were observed at the dredged site. However, no comparison with a non-altered site was conducted (Hartley 1993).
No significant difference in the use of the channels and dense cattails was found in swamp sparrows, marsh wrens, and red-winged blackbirds (Weseloh et al. 1994).
Fisheries assessment revealed that catch per unit effort and species richness were greater in the artificial channels than in the dense cattails. Channels were used as nursery habitat by northern pike, largemouth bass and other species. Central mudminnows were the only species found in the cattails (Smith and Cope 1994).
Success Rating: 4 - based on the fisheries evaluation.
However, the life span of the channels is unknown. It is likely
that without maintenance,
channels will fill-in in the future and return to their previous
state.
15. Key References
Hartley, K. 1993. An evaluation of 5 coastal marsh restoration projects in the Bay of Quinte region. Unpublished report, Moira River Conservation Authority, Belleville, Ontario.
Smith, A. and Cope, L. 1994. Fisheries assessment of some wetland enhancement projects in the Quinte area. In A. Smith. 1994. Proceedings of the workshop on the creation of channels and ponds within cattail marshes on the Bay of Quinte, and a conceptual plan. Unpublished report, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Napanee, Ontario.
Weseloh, D.V., Patrikeev, M., Richardson, M., and Blokpoel, H.
1994. Studies of marsh and waterbirds on the Bay of Quinte, 1994.
In A. Smith. 1994. Proceedings of the workshop on the
creation of channels and ponds within cattail marshes on the Bay
of Quinte, and a conceptual plan. Unpublished report, Ontario
Ministry of Natural Resources, Napanee, Ontario.
Correct citation for this contribution:
Mathers, A., and Hartley, K. 1995. Sawquin Creek marsh channel creation project, p. 197-199. In J.R.M. Kelso and J.H. Hartig [editors]. Methods of modifying habitat to benefit the Great Lakes ecosystem. CISTI (Can. Inst. Sci. Tech. Inf.) Occas. Pap. No. 1.