Riparian areas provide a multitude of ecosystem functions and benefits, including water filtration to improve water quality, sediment removal, nutrient cycling and carbon storage, increased primary productivity, bank stabilization, and flood attenuation and increased water storage. While these habitats provide a wide range of benefits to human communities, the loss and impairment of riparian lands in Alberta has been significant, and recent watershed management efforts throughout the province have been focused on identifying priority areas for riparian restoration, conservation, and management. In order to efficiently target restoration efforts and resources, however, there first needs to be reliable information about the location, condition, and function of riparian habitats.

 

Fiera Biological Consulting (Fiera) has developed and applied a GIS methodology to rapidly map and assess riparian areas and generally assess pressure on riparian system function over large spatial scales. This geospatial model has been validated against aerial videography and ground-based assessments within different watersheds in central Alberta, and the GIS method has been shown to provide reliable estimates of riparian condition. Further, this model includes an application of additional indicators that were developed to generally assess natural and anthropogenic pressures that may impair riparian system function. Combined, this model gives land managers a tool that identifies areas that may require special management or should be targeted for riparian habitat restoration or conservation. To-date, this method has been used to assess riparian condition for nearly 30,000 km of shoreline elsewhere in Alberta.

 

A riparian intactness assessment was completed in the Nose Creek watershed. The assessment focused on riparian areas associated with approximately 697 km of shoreline. This included 646.9 km of riparian area associated with named streams, and 23.2 km of unnamed streams, plus 26.6 km of lake and/or reservoir shoreline. The results will be used to inform strategies to address riparian health and priorities for restoration in collaboration with watershed partners and stakeholders.