Does anyone know what is happening with the Kus-Kus-Sum “Unpaved Paradise” project on Comox Road just north of the 17th street bridge along the water?
Excited to see it done someday.
I like saying “pinniped monitoring” and watching the confused looks on people’s faces :p
Recently volunteered to plant trees there, it’s a cool project and lots of thought is going into it - certain trees/shrubs have to go either close to the river or closer to the road depending on the root system and how well they can corral the water.
I beleive the lead there mentioned they are hoping to be done for 2025/26 but I’m not sure if the timeline has been delayed. They will apparently be doing a cool ceremony when they take down the big metal retaining wall and “flood” the area again.
Definitely worthwhile to volunteer, you can go learn about all that’s involved and I know they’d be happy to have more people involved!
Good for you for volunteering! Community support for projects like that is so great to see.
It got slowed down because the provincial government reclassified the soil as contaminated since it came out of brackish water. They need way more money to dispose of it now.
It didn't get reclassified as contaminated. It is contaminated.
And was classified accordingly .. who cares 🫣
Exactly. It upped their costs either way.
I think the government actually changed the laws around how soil is tested and based on what it contains limited where the soil can be moved to or disposed of. In a way, I believe it quite literally was reclassified, or at least the law around how it needs to be disposed of was altered.
There were some changes to the soil relocation process but nothing that would have had a significant impact on the project. There have been no changes to how soil is tested. Source - I work in the contaminated sites industry
Habitat restoration, mainly to help with struggling species, salmon and aquatic grasses.
Go to their website you can sign up for newsletter updates!
go volunteer if you can,
It sure doesn't look like any estuary I've ever seen. It. so far, looks unnaturally natural, if I'm being clear.
Deadfall trees don't all lie in formation in nature, rocks don't sit on top, they are buried to one extent or another.
I support and have donated but I sure hope they get it closer to natural by the end.
You have to give it time!
Agreed on the volunteer suggestion. There are so many ways to be involved. Right now I'm doing seal and sea lion monitoring once a month. It's excellent.
https://projectwatershed.ca/news/