The banks of the Little Red River are getting a facelift.
Work is underway in Little Red River Park to stabilize the riverbank in response to years of erosion and damage caused from damming the river during the Husky Oil Spill last year.
The work has been ongoing for several weeks, and is set to be completed by the first few weeks of November
“During the oil spill we had dammed off Little Red near the bottom of the toboggan hill area. That led to water being backed up for a couple of months,” said Jeff Da Silva, engineering services manager with the city.
“That led to some erosion of the river bank. Downstream of that, there was some erosion from a previous event, and the city decided it would tackle riverbank stabilization on that side as well.”
According to information provided by the city, the infrastructure projects will protect riverbanks and infrastructure from erosion and high flow events, improve the ecological function of the water course by addressing erosion conditions, improve the habitat for fish and other animals, and improve water quality, re-establish native grasses, shrubs and trees along the riverbank to protect against erosion and regain space for walking trails.
The $1.18 million construction project is funded through the Pehonan Parkway reserve fund ($436,000) and from contributions from Husky Oil ($749,000).
For more on this story, please see the October 18 print or e-edition of the Daily Herald.
