Naturalization of Vernon Creek in Polson Park: A Case Study of Flood Mitigation and Fish Habitat Enhancement in an Urban Park
Leif Burge, PhD, PAg
EcoFish Research, Ltd
Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Shawn Kilpatrick
Stantec
Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Authors: Leif Burge, EcoFish Research, Ltd, Mathew Keast, City of Vernon, Ivano Biagioni, Stantec Consulting Inc.
Polson Park is a popular urban park in Vernon, British Columbia, that has experienced chronic flooding and groundwater issues due to the presence of the concrete-lined Vernon Creek channel. The creek was modified sometime before the early 20th century and now flows through a degraded downstream section with concrete banks, lawns, and concrete duck ponds on what was the floodplain and a semi-natural upstream section with beaver dams, floodplain connection, and riparian vegetation. The downstream section provides poor fish and riparian habitat and was identified as a good site for naturalization. The existing fish and benthic invertebrate communities, fish habitat, hydraulic, geomorphic, groundwater, hydrology, water quality, sediment quality conditions were documented to inform the design. The fish population is limited by the lack of pool habitat, riparian cover, hydraulic conditions, and lack of spawning material. The City of Vernon initiated a project to naturalize the creek through the park over two phases, starting from Highway 97 and ending at a maintenance bridge crossing approximately 550 m upstream. The project aims to create a naturalized floodplain with meandering channels, riffle pools, root wads, boulders, and riparian vegetation to accommodate seasonal flows and flooding events, improve water quality and fish habitat, and reduce maintenance costs. The target species for the design were rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and kokanee and sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). The project supports efforts to reintroduce sockeye salmon to the region. Specifically, the design includes the removal of the duck ponds, removal of seven bridges, the reconstruction of three more robust bridges, floodplains on one or both sides of the channel, addition of spawning gravel, and planting of riparian vegetation. The project is expected to start construction in the summer of 2024 and be completed in 2025. This presentation will provide an overview of the project design, implementation, challenges, and expected outcomes.
About Leif Burge, PhD, PAg
Dr. Burge is a nationally recognized fluvial geomorphologist with more than 25 years of wide-ranging experience in fluvial geomorphology and river restoration. He is Project Director at Ecofish Research, a fellow of the Canadian Rivers Institute and Adjunct Professor at University of British Columbia Okanagan. He has been involved in all phases of river restoration projects, including project scoping, technical assessments, channel design, tendering, construction administration, project completion and post construction monitoring. Key collaborators have included fisheries biologists, hydrologists, geoscientists, geotechnical engineers and structural engineers. Dr. Burge has extensive experience conducting river research on sediment management, sediment transport, river stability, and fish habitat. He uses hydrological analysis, hydraulic modelling, and fish habitat criteria to inform his designs. He and his team employ a natural channel design philosophy in river restoration. Key projects include the hydrotechnical and geomorphological impact assessment and sediment and erosion control plan following the Mount Polley tailings storage facility (TSF) breach, design of a channel to mitigate sediment contamination and calcite and improve fish habitat, a number of channel restorations throughout the British Columbia following damage due to flooding, and hydrotechnical design of bridge crossings and pipeline crossings, including Falls Creek after the erosion of Highway 1 during the atmospheric river of 2021.
About Shawn Kilpatrick
Shawn is a professional engineer with diverse expertise in leading channel restoration projects, from emergency response to complex multi-year initiatives. As an engineering discipline lead for Stantec’s Western Canadian Water Resources group he has a technical focus on natural system design including channel restoration in conjunction with hydrotechnical assessment of bridge crossings, flood mitigation planning and mine reclamation.
He fosters positive relationships with project stakeholders, including regulatory agencies, municipalities, and environmental groups. This collaborative approach ensures that projects meet both the ecological and engineering requirements while also gaining community support. He leverages his diverse background in engineering and project management to deliver innovative and cost-effective restoration solutions.