The Crowfeet Creek, which runs through much of Wheatland County, has some room for improvement after being the subject of an intense research project last summer.
The report, recently presented to the Wheatland County Council, gave Crowfoot Creek a rating of 70 per cent, or healthy, but with problems. The rating is in line with the provincial average.
The study was a joint effort between Wheatland County, Siksika Nation, and Cows and Fish. The goal of the study was to assess the health of Crowfoot Creek, inform landscape management planning within Wheatland and Siksika, and encourage landowners to effectively manage riparian areas under their care.
Riparian areas are the portions of landscape strongly influenced by water and contain water-loving vegetation along rivers, streams, lakes, springs, ponds, and seeps.
“Crowfoot Creek is a fair-sized watershed in the county. We want to make acreage owners and producers aware there are grants available to clean up our water sources. It’s something everyone should be doing,” said Glenn Koester, Reeve of Wheatland County.
The next steps to manage the health of the Crowfoot Creek watershed include maintaining native plant communities, monitoring and controlling invasive weeds, improving livestock grazing watering access, and maintaining or expanding existing buffers between cropland and Crowfoot Creek.
The report on Crowfoot Creek is the second such study undertaken by Wheatland County. Two years ago Rosebud River was given the same in depth examination and was given a rating of 74 per cent; healthy, but with problems.
Since the Rosebud River was examined, it has seen considerable improvement.
“We targeted Rosebud River a couple of years ago and the health of it has improved quite substantially. The work there is continuing, but we felt it was time to start on Crowfoot Creek,” said Koester.
The goal is to see a similar improvement along Crowfoot Creek.
“It’s fairly good, but it can use a little bit of help to be as healthy as it can be for the years to come,” said Koester.