Managing your Riparian Areas

Are you a farmer, rancher, or acreage owner with a riparian area, or land that borders some sort of water feature? Learn how to maximize the benefits that these areas provide to your own operations and to surrounding watersheds.
The Agroforestry and Woodlot Extension Society, Cows and Fish, several counties and municipal districts have partnered to deliver this two-day course. It aims to help landowners manage their riparian areas in ways that maximize the environmental, social, and economic benefits to themselves, their community, and the greater watershed.

Examples of these benefits include improved water quality, moderation of floods and droughts, erosion reduction, wildlife habitat, forage production for livestock, recreational opportunities, and alternative enterprises such as timber, firewood, fruit, nuts, mushrooms, and medicinal plants.

This two-day workshop will take you through assessing the health, benefits, and potential uses of the natural water on your property.

The course includes:

• Two full days of instruction/active participation on riparian area assessment, restoration and management. This includes site visits to nearby riparian areas each day, weather permitting.
• Printouts of background information and management tools, including a course workbook, relevant informational factsheets and manuals, laminated maps of participants’ properties, and more.
• Lunch and snacks/refreshments for both days.

Dates and locations:

• May 31-June 1: Rocky View County
• June 15-16: Northern Sunrise County
• July 19-20: Brazeau County
• July 23-24: Mountain View County
• August 10-11: Lac Ste. Anne County
• September 7-8: Greenview County
• September 21-22: Vermilion River County

The fee for this course is $20 per participant. This fee has been greatly reduced, as the majority of course costs are being covered by a grant from the Watershed Resiliency and Restoration Program (WRRP), administered by Alberta Environment and Parks. The primary objective of WRRP is to increase the natural ability of the province’s watersheds to reduce the intensity, magnitude, duration and effects of flooding and drought through watershed mitigation measures. Widespread implementation of the riparian restoration and management practices taught in this course has the potential to mitigate flooding and drought throughout the watershed while also providing direct benefits to landowners.

Find more information about the Riparian Management Course, or contact Luke Wonneck, agroforestry technician with AWES Agroforestry and Woodlot Extension Society at 780-643-2240.