HYTHE, Alta. – It’s hard to believe the banks along the Beaverlodge River that flows through the Cargill family farm were once worn bare and beginning to erode.
Only two years after fencing off the river and its tributary in the northern Alberta farm, thick stands of canarygrass wave in the wind where the bank was once worn black from cattle hoofs.
The willows along the river’s edge have started to regrow and the thousands of poplar, willow and spruce trees planted in the buffer between the river and the field are healthy and strong.
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“This was all pretty pounded down,” said Dan Cargill who farms near Hythe with his parents, Jim and Lynn.
In 2005, concerned about the eroding banks and the poor quality of water flowing through their farm, they fenced 10 to 12 acres of land along the river from the cattle. Not allowing the cattle to graze there would allow the grass, sedges and tree roots to slowly glue the banks back together.
“We were trying to do the right thing.”
The Cargills are just one of 10 families in the West County Watershed Group who want the water to run clearer when it leaves their farm.
“We have to protect what we have. It’s for the guy downstream,” said Cargill.
“As landowners, we have a responsibility to leave the land in better shape than we found it.
“Maybe other people will be encouraged to do the same thing.”
Jill Henry, the rural extension officer with the County of Grande Prairie, said there is a growing awareness of the need to protect fragile stream banks.
Through workshops and seminars, Henry helps local farmers understand that sometimes riparian restoration is as easy as fencing off a river.
“Awareness is growing,” said Henry, who encourages producer participation and helps them access grants to offset the cost of fences or trees.
“Funding is always going to be a barrier,” she said.
The Beaverlodge River was once one of the best grayling fishing rivers in the world. A combination of industry and agriculture along the river has damaged the fragile fish habitat. It’s been years since a grayling was spotted in the river.
A year ago a chemical spill upriver sickened some of the Cargills’s cattle. The cattle weren’t drinking from the river, but from a stock tank filled with river water. All but two heifers and a purebred Limousin bull had to be sold. For the family, it reinforced the importance of looking after the river.
By keeping their cattle away from the river, there is less chance of manure running into the water. The long grass and trees act as filters to stop manure from leaching into the river.
“We don’t want a big disaster like Walkerton,” said Cargill, referring to the Ontario tragedy where E. coli from cattle contaminated the town’s drinking water.
Henry said farmers have become more receptive to fencing off waterways, even small meandering rivers like the Beaverlodge.
“It doesn’t have to be a huge river to have an impact,” she said.
