Rockwood National Wildlife Area Water Control Structure Re-naturalization Project

The Canadian Wildlife Service must determine whether the proposed Rockwood National Wildlife Area removal of the water control structure located within the boundaries of Rockwood National Wildlife Area, Manitoba is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

To help inform this determination, the Canadian Wildlife Service is inviting comments from the public respecting that determination. All comments received will be considered public [and may be posted online]. For more information, individuals should consult the Privacy Notice https://iaacaeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/protection on the Registry website. Written comments must be submitted by 27 July, 2022 to:

Molly Kirk – Head, Protected Areas Unit

115 Perimeter Road, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 0X4

306-241-7161 (cell)

molly.kirk@ec.gc.ca

 

The Proposed Project

 

Ducks Unlimited Canada has proposed to conduct a project on Rockwood National Wildlife Area to remove the existing water control structure. Rockwood NWA was established in 1981 to utilize the periodic flooding from the adjacent Department of Fisheries and Oceans' Rockwood Fish Hatchery land to provide nesting and staging habitat for migratory birds. Upon the wildlife area's creation, Ducks Unlimited Canada agreed to design, construct and manage a berm around the property to contain water with a flap-gate culvert to retain and regulate flow from Rockwood NWA into neighbouring drainage canals.

The proposed project would consist of permanently breaching the east side dyke in an area that has been functionally breached since 2003. The project would be conducted at the location of 50.28321, -97.15410. The project would border the road allowance to the east of the NWA. The flap-gate culvert's dimensions are 24" x 28', with a west invert of 754.23' and an east invert of 753.83' above sea level. Prior to 2003, the purpose of this control structure was to divert water into the impoundment from the ditch and mitigate the outflow from the marsh. Since 2003, the water control has been left open and has not been used to alter water levels. Removal of the structure would leave the invert elevations similar to the elevations of the existing infrastructure so the water flow regime would stay roughly the same. The area of the current structure would be renaturalized by installing fully photodegradable erosion control blankets and seeding plants similar to what grows on the surrounding berm.

More

Latest update

[August 22, 2022] – The Canadian Wildlife Service issued its Notice of Determination and determined that the project is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

Participate

Key documents

Key documents
Document number Document title File Date
1 Notice of Determination - August 22, 2022

Contacts

Protected Areas Unit
Environment and Climate Change Canada/Canadian Wildlife Service
Molly Kirk, Head, Protected Areas Unit
115 Perimeter Road
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0X4
Telephone: 306-241-7161
Email: molly.kirk@canada.ca


Disclaimer

This map is for illustrative purposes. The markers represent the approximate locations based on available data. More than one marker may be identified for a given assessment.

  • Location

    • Rockwood National Wildlife Area (Manitoba)

  • Nature of Activity

    • Water Management
    • Remediation and conservation

  • Assessment Status

    Completed

  • Start Date

    2022-06-24

  • Proponent

    Ducks Unlimited Canada

  • Authorities

    • Environment and Climate Change Canada

  • Assessment Type

    Project on federal lands

  • Reference Number

    83735

Nearby assessments

...within 200 kilometres
Report a problem on this page
Date modified: