From the City of Williams Lake
The second phase of improvements to the River Valley Trail are complete. Phase II included the construction of storm water lagoons and the restoration of the site’s original ecosystem.
The lagoons, directly below the entrance to the trail, will filter city storm water before it is released into the Williams Lake River, ensuring the water re-entering the natural water cycle has been treated.
As part of the phase, Richard Case of RL Case & Associates – Watershed Consulting and the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society Conservation Society planted more than 1,200 native shrubs, trees, and wetland plants to restore the ecosystem. This is addition to about 1,300 plants planted during Phase I of the improvements, which included the addition of sewer detention ponds.
A new picnic shelter has been built and trails have been created in a park area uphill from the lagoon site, surrounded by additional new vegetation. A concrete salmon also marks the site. “This is a unique system that will contribute to treating the city’s storm water,” says Director of Municipal Services Kevin Goldfuss. “Storm water will no longer go unfiltered into the river.”
“More than just planting, we are working to restore the ecosystem to what it was here 100 years ago,” says Case. “We planted 6 different species of trees, five species of wetland plants, and nine species of shrub, all native species and well-suited to the site.”
The City plans to add interpretive signage at the site in the future, in order to inform visitors how the lagoons were integrated into the ecosystem.
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