Publications

Composed of farmers, ranchers and recreational landowners, the Beaver Creek Watershed Group is striving to improve riparian health and water quality in Beaver Creek through the collective efforts of landowners along this stream which flows from the Porcupine Hills. The group has taken action to build a strong group of committed individuals with the support of a working group of agency resource people. They continue to focus on awareness, implementing management changes and monitoring.

Using a combination of rest-rotation and time-controlled grazing, Bud Maynard, ranch manager, has been working to improve pasture condition since 1989. In combination with these grazing strategies and off-stream water development, riparian health and grass production have improved, along with an increase in herd size.

Recognising that cattle numbers and stocking rates need to be adjusted to meet pasture and range conditions has enabled Merv Page, ranch manager, to keep the native range in good condition. Use of short periods of grazing during the spring plus access to off-site water maintains the riparian area and streambank, allowing for fall-winter grazing to also fit into the management strategy.

The Halls have been using a time-controlled grazing strategy to provide carefully managed grazing of their riparian pasture since 1994. They want to maintain the pastures along Mosquito Creek to continue to provide pasture during the breeding season and also to produce high quality native grass seed for market.

Would you like to better understand the health of your riparian area? The Riparian Health Training fact sheet provides answers on the type of training provided by Cows and Fish and how to choose the right training for you.

To obtain printed copies of these publications, please use our Online Order Form.

This fact sheet explains all you need to know about weeds, or invasive and disturbance-caused plants, in riparian areas. From different types of weeds to the impact of weeds in riparian areas and why weeds are included in riparian health assessments. For a complete list of all invasive and disturbance-caused plants see the fact sheet Invasive Weeds and Disturbance-caused Undesirable Plants List.

A list of invasive weed and disturbance-caused undesirable plants used by Cows and Fish staff to complete riparian health assessments and inventories (designed for use in Alberta). This list is a tool that landowners, resource managers, and communities can use in understanding riparian health assessments and examining their own riparian areas. Note that the same list can be found at the back of the Riparian Health Assessment Field Workbook.  Invasive plant species locally elevated by municipalities are not included in this list.

Health assessment for Lakes, Sloughs and Wetlands.

Health assessment for streams and small rivers.

Wondering how to measure the health of your riparian area? This 4-page fact sheet will give you some ideas on why you may want to look at the health of your riparian area, and how you can use the information to make management decisions. It also describes the differences between riparian health assessment and inventory, the benefits of both, and how Cows and Fish can help.

What does riparian health look like? What makes a site healthy or less than healthy? See Riparian Areas: A User’s Guide to Health for a colourful, image based, 46-page booklet to help you tune your eye to what makes up riparian health.

To answer the question “Is this riparian area healthy?”, consider doing a Riparian Health Assessment, and request one of our landowner’s guides to riparian health, better known as Riparian Health Assessment Field Workbooks. These are pocket guides for landowners to easily determine the health of their riparian area and as an education and awareness aid for resource managers:

A fact sheet on the Cows and Fish Process in action; sharing our experiences working with communities.

A fact sheet on the strategy to create successful partnerships with producers and their communities to effectively address riparian land issues. This community-driven approach may be useful for your group or agency to consider.

A 2-page summary of the role Cows and Fish plays in riparian management, and where our emphasis lies in terms of program goals.

Our focus is on increasing awareness and understanding about how riparian areas work.

In the tension between land and water, water always wins. Healthy, well vegetated riparian areas slow the rate of erosion and balance erosion in one spot with bank or shoreline increases through deposition elsewhere. It is extremely difficult to solve erosion problems overnight but once the threat of erosion becomes obvious we tend to want a quick fix. Regaining streambank and shoreline stability may require the temporary use of erosion control structures, especially where insufficient riparian vegetation exists. Solutions may also require a watershed view to see all of the things that contribute to instability.

For streambanks and shorelines that are experiencing accelerated erosion, returning those banks to natural vegetation is generally the best approach. This fact sheet introduces readers to the concept of soil bioengineering, using live woody vegetation that will ‘sprout and grow’. Once the cause of the vegetation loss has been addressed, these techniques may be used to restore eroding banks, knitting banks together and reducing further loss.