Constructing, Commissioning and Monitoring Stormwater Wetlands in Alberta

A well designed constructed stormwater facility wetland (CSFW) still depends on careful field execution to succeed. This course begins with human access, educational features and best management practices that protect the wetland, then covers the construction phase: scheduling earthworks and planting around seasonal conditions, construction phasing, first-season filling to normal water level (NWL), and erosion and sediment control. It explains soil salvage, stockpiling and handling to avoid compaction, grading and contouring to within plus or minus 5 cm of design, and planting techniques including seed quality and certificates, drill, broadcast and hydroseeding, manual transplanting, live staking, mechanical planting with donor soils and upland planting. Reference lists of native wetland species and common weedy and invasive species support planting and weed management decisions.

The course then addresses the commissioning period, when hydrology and plant communities become established, and the inspections needed to confirm the wetland was built to specification. For hydrology, wetland vegetation, upland vegetation, water quality and wildlife, it sets out commissioning activities such as spring flood-up and summer drawdown, monitoring frequency, timing and indicators such as percent cover, species richness and plant health indices, and adaptive management strategies. Topics include managing nuisance wildlife such as Canada geese, muskrats and beavers, integrated weed management in upland buffers, and responding to water quality problems.

What Will Be Covered:

• Human access, educational features and best management practices that protect a CSFW

• Construction timelines, seasonal earthworks, planting windows and construction phasing

• Erosion and sediment control practices during and after construction

• Soil salvage, storage, stockpiling and handling to prevent compaction and weed spread

• Grading, material placement and contouring tolerances, with as-built survey

• Seed quality, seeding methods, transplanting, live staking and mechanical planting with donor soils

• Invasive species and weed management, and wildlife management during construction

• Inspection of grading, infrastructure and vegetation planting

• Commissioning, monitoring and adaptive management for hydrology, vegetation, water quality and wildlife