Chapter 8

Restoring Habitat Using Soft Engineering Techniques at LaSalle Park, Hamilton Harbour, Burlington, Ontario, Canada (John Hall)

Introduction

This harbor project was aimed at enhancing fish and wildlife habitat, reducing turbidity, and encouraging passive recreational opportunities. This is more in keeping with improved water quality and closer to the park's previous relationship with Lake Ontario (Figure 26).

Project Description

The design included five restoration components:

• a westerly promontory to create a permanent sheltering of the near-shore area to enhance aquatic plant production and create food sources for waterfowl;
• offshore reefs and emergent shoals to provide spawning habitat for fish and food sources for wading birds;
• a bioengineered complex shoreline integrating near-shore fish habitat and replacing the existing armorstone edge with trees and shrubs;
• restoration of an existing sand beach, thereby providing a linkage for wildlife between a wooded swamp and the harbor; and
• incorporation of a walking trail, lookouts, and interpretive signs.

The overall goal was to diversify the fish community by encouraging native predators such as bass or pike. This has been carried out with the creation of 11.9 ha of fish habitat, 1.4 km of rehabilitated littoral edge, 145 m of emergent shoals, 2 rocky reefs of 950 square meters, and over 125 fish habitat modules.

A rock breakwater extends approximately 160 m into the harbor sheltering the marina basin and creating 11.9 ha of fish habitat. The west side of the promontory contains a wave-washed spawning reef and habitat for invertebrates, such as crayfish (Figure 27). The easterly lee is vegetated with overhanging native plants providing shade and protection. The fine gravel bottom provides protected spawning habitat for bass and sunfish. Tree stumps, logs, open concrete pipes, and poles are anchored into the promontory providing refuge and feeding habitats for fish. Five large shoals and a submerged reef provide more spawning habitat.

Figure 26. The sand beach at LaSalle Park prior to restoration.

Figure 27. The sand beach at LaSalle Park after restoration using soft engineering techniques.

Restoration of the beach area involved the removal of many tons of rock fill that had been added over the years. In its place is a sandy pebble beach where frogs, turtles, and salamanders can travel freely between the water and the natural wetland located at the base of the forested bluff. The beach contains a small pond for frogs and salamanders and a nesting mound for turtles. In low water conditions, some of the rocks used to create fish habitat modules become visible. These provide loafing areas for birds and turtles. In the basin where logs and brush bundles have been anchored to the bottom, turtles, frogs, and shorebirds use the branches and trunks for basking and loafing.

The meandering shoreline creates a complex edge preferred by fish and wildlife. The diverse vegetation attracts a greater variety of insects, small animals, and birds. The wetland, shrubs, and trees along the water's edge provide a connection with the forested slope. Over time, the natural forest edge should creep down to join the wetland and form a corridor for mammals and birds along the edge of the bay.

A waterfront trail, complemented with interpretive signs, allows visitors in LaSalle park to view and understand the fish and wildlife restoration carried out at the site. East of the pier, the trail passes a recreational marina on its way to a boardwalk crossing the restored beach. This boardwalk, constructed at the back of the beach through the edge of a wetland, provides clearance to accommodate the movement of amphibians. Further east along the shoreline, the trail contains several lookouts and seating areas which have become an excellent area for viewing flocks of migrating, nesting, and feeding waterfowl (Figure 28). Over time, as the trees and shrubs planted along the shoreline mature, the trail will become more complex, coursing between woodlands and lookouts.

Figure 28. The improved habitat and plant diversity is easily viewed from the boardwalk. The boardwalk provides improved public access.

Regulatory Considerations

Regulatory considerations included:

• Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Fisheries Act permit required;
• Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Navigable Waters Act permit required; and
• a permit from the Halton Region Conservation Authority was required under the Fill, Construction, and Alterations to Waterways Regulation.

Cost

Post Project Evaluation for Effectiveness

LaSalle Park is responding to restoration efforts. There is an increase in abundance of aquatic plants and greater diversity in fish and wildlife (Figure 28).

Benefits of the Project

Benefits included:

• construction of 11.9 ha of fish habitat and 6 hectares of wildlife habitat;
• construction of 1.4 km of new littoral edge and 900 m of shoreline re-vegetation including wetland plantings;
• construction of 145 square meters of emergent shoals, 2 spawning reefs of 960 square meters and 125 fish habitat structures;
• restoration of 130 m of beach; and
• construction of a pedestrian bridge, 1 km of new trails, 160 m of boardwalk, and the installation of interpretive signage.

Advice for Overcoming Obstacles When Using Soft Engineering Practices

The proponents felt that the best thing this project did, once a concept for rehabilitation was developed, was to form a project advisory group of stakeholders. This group was a combination of local interest groups, science community, and relevant agencies. The group worked through the detailed design and environmental assessment stages. Since these groups had been involved from the design stage, permits/funding approvals were easier to obtain.

Funding and Implementation Partners

Bay Area Restoration Council (representing citizens, interest groups, municipalities, industries, and landowners);
Department of Fisheries and Oceans;
Environment Canada;
Friends of the Environment Foundation;
Great Lakes 2000 Cleanup Fund;
Halton Region Conservation Authority;
Hamilton Harbour Commissioners;
Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan Stakeholders (RAP);
Hamilton Naturalists' Club;
Hamilton Region Conservation Authority;
McMaster University;
Ontario Ministry of the Environment;
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources;
Royal Botanical Gardens Project Paradise;
The Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth;
The Regional Municipality of Halton;
City of Burlington; City of Hamilton; and
Waterfront Regeneration Trust.

Contact Persons

The Fish and Wildlife Habitat Restoration Project
605 James Street North, 3rd Floor
Hamilton, Ontario

Vic Cairns
Department of Fisheries and Oceans
867 Lakeshore Road
Burlington, Ontario L7R 4A6