05 Jul Work Progressing on AgriWatershed Partnership BMP Support Program Projects.
Fieldwork has begun on the 2021 AWP BMP support program projects. In the Montague River watershed, William Visser from GWR Farms and Jackie Bourgeois from the Southeastern Environmental Association (SEA) along with Tobin Stetson, P.Eng. , Soil & Water Engineer with the PEI Department of Agriculture & Land, met on-site to discuss plans to stabilize a concentrated flow area extending from the field through the wooded riparian area to a tributary of the Montague River. Plans include accessing expertise from the SEA field crew to properly stabilize the outlet in the riparian zone.
In mid-June, Jackie Bourgeois (SEA) met with Chris MacAulay of MacAulay Farms Ltd. and Tyler Wright, P.Eng., Soil & Water Engineer with the PEI Department of Agriculture & Land on-site, to discuss the extensive AWP Support program project being installed on MacAulay Farms property in Forest Hill, which is within 200m of Whitlock Pond to the east and the Boughton River to the south.
Tyler Wright, Soil & Water Engineer, PEIDAL, discusses the soil conservation plan for the MacAulay Farms AWP Project with Jackie Bourgeois (SEA) and Chris MacAulay
A common feature of soil conservation structures, particularly with the increase in extreme weather events due to climate change, is the installation of jute erosion mat to protect the waterways until the grass is established. Installing the erosion mat, which has to be hand stapled, is labour intensive, and with other time dependent farm operations to complete, many growers appreciate assistance with getting the mat laid down in a timely fashion. A very positive outcome of the cooperation between the watershed group SEA and MacAulay Farms Ltd. was assistance from the SEA field crew to install erosion mat. As a result, in this large soil conservation project, over 18,000 feet of erosion mat was installed in a day and a half!
SEA field crew members assist the farm crew from MacAulay Farms install erosion mat.