A third round of restoration work on the Sturgeon Bank foreshore aims to increase marsh resilience and support coastal flood protection in Richmond.
Ducks Unlimited Canada partnered with Fraser River Pile and Dredge to repurpose more than 15,000 cubic metres of sediment dredged from the Fraser River in the past two years and placed on the bank.
The third phase of restoration work took place from Sept. 20 to Oct. 4 whereby sediment was dredged from the Deas Basin BC Ferries Fleet Maintenance area and was brought by barge to Sturgeon Bank.
The first phase took place in February 2023 and the second in February 2024.
According to Eric Balke, senior restoration biologist at Ducks Unlimited Canada, at least 160 hectares of tidal marsh off the west coast of Lulu Island has died off since the 1980s.
This is equivalent to 40 BC Place Stadiums.
"Ducks Unlimited Canada is working with federal and provincial governments and research scientists to try and better understand the recessing and what we can do about it," said Balke. He added restoring Sturgeon Bank will also protect wildlife Pacific salmon habitats.
To prevent disruption to the natural ecosystems in Sturgeon Bank, sediment needed to be placed in a large pile at a distance from the foreshore and let natural processes such as wind and current move it onto the mudflats, he explained.
To do this, a 1.4-kilometre floating pipeline was built to move sediment collected from the Fraser River to Sturgeon Banks
Piet Greven, spokesperson for Fraser River Pile and Dredge, said the floating pipeline would allow them to move sediment without disturbing the sensitive area.
Moving equipment into Sturgeon Bank was only possible during high tide. But placing the equipment required the tide to be low, otherwise, the team would not have been able to access the large equipment, explained Greven.
"The floating pipeline solves this issue with the sediment vessel and heavy equipment stationed in the Fraser River and pumping the fine sediment through the pipeline onto the bank," said Greven.
Both Greven and Balke said they are trying to make this pilot project more sustainable in the long-term.
"Long-term success of this project will eventually scale up to other parts of Sturgeon Bank, if not the rest of Sturgeon Bank, and even apply the concept more broadly across the Fraser River Delta," said Balke.
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