Restoration project of Quilliams’ Stream a success
Renaissance Lac-brome celebrates completion of $ 150,000 project
Nearing the end of September, Renaissance Lac-brome President Hélène Drouin announced the successful completion of the three-year restoration project costing $150,000 on Quilliams’ Stream during a special ribbon cutting ceremony held at the new bridge.
Spearheaded by former president of RLB, Dr. Michel Delorme in 2015, the stream restoration project has been overseen by Isabelle Martineau, an agronomist from Gestrie-sol. With the objective to also improve the environmental and economic performance of three farming businesses within the area of the project, she has ensured the proper coordination of specialists, service providers, and landowners during all the stages of the project. Martineau was emphatic that the project could not have been successful without the collaboration and cooperation especially of the three landowners of the area in question: Robert (Bob) Hume, Eddie Widger, and Pierre (Pete) Martin.
That Quilliams’ stream running from South Stukely and West Bolton before arriving at Brome Lake is 50 per cent of the lake’s source of water. It is considered a critically important natural reserve that filters the water before it reaches the lake. It runs through an operating agricultural territory of almost 100 acres. This area along the stream had to be upgraded in order to facilitate the unique habitat restoration project.
More than 3,400 indigenous plants were added to the shoreline, creating a buffer zone some five metres wide and 5.8 kilometres long. The plantings will serve as a protective margin from fertilizers that would normally leach into the water and be carried downstream. As well, the choice in vegetation is intended to attract and support indigenous species, a measure to balance the bio-diversity of the region.
An eco-friendly bridge has been
completed in order to facilitate travel of heavy farm equipment through the vulnerable zone. The building of the structure did pose some technological challenges because the banks of the stream had to be stabilized for about 100 metres in each direction. A technique using vegetation known as fascines (bundles of brush) and willows and anti-erosion mats were used for this purpose.
While both Mayor Richard Burcombe (TBL) and Mayor Donald Badger (West Bolton) congratulated RLB and Mar- tineau for the excellent work done, Drouin lauded and thanked all the key stakeholders including the three property owners, the municipalities of West Bolton and TBL, the provincial and federal governments, and environmentalists Organisme De Bassin Versant De La Yamaska (OBV Yamaska), the non-profit organization that brings together more than 20 representatives in the region in order to make sustainable and integrated water management within the watershed for financial and technical support that brought the project to successful completion.
“This innovative project is an eloquent demonstration of the collaboration that can exist between the agricultural and local science community. Renaissance Brome Lake is especially proud of this experiment since it continues its efforts to improve the quality of the water in Brome Lake and its tributaries,” added Drouin.
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