Restoration of a Canadian Prairie Wetland with Agricultural and Municipal Wastewater

/ A rapid development and approval process was employed by Ducks Unlimited Canada and other stakeholders to restore a 1246-ha (3079-acre) northern prairie wetland in southern Alberta, Canada, with 3640 m3/day (800,000 US gallons) of municipal wastewater and beef processing wastewater. A large nongovernmental organization hastened restoration with a development process that outlined restoration goals and management objectives to satisfy a dual mandate of wastewater treatment and wildlife habitat creation. In 1995, after five years of wastewater additions, the basins had been refilled and the surrounding uplands had been acquired and restored. The Frank Lake Conservation Area currently provides high-quality habitat for a variety of wildlife in a region where many of the native plants and animals species have been lost due to habitat loss and fragmentation. The success of upland and water management strategies is reflected in the increase of target species' abundance and richness: 50 shorebird species, 44 waterfowl species, 15 raptor species, and 28 other new bird species have returned to the marsh since restoration. As well, significant N and P reduction occurs as waters flow through the first basin of the marsh. The management strategies of this project that satisfied a dual mandate serve as a model to guide managers of other large-scale wetland restoration projects.KEY WORDS: Frank Lake; Wetland restoration; Adaptive management; Prairie; Wastewaterhttp://link.springer-ny.com/link/service/journals/00267/bibs/24n1p25.html