BC Hydro will start planting in Revelstoke Reach under the Columbia River Water Use Plan Revegetation Program next week.
“We will be planting native sedges and deciduous shrub plugs at planting sites in the Drimmie Creek (12-Mile), Nine-Mile, and Cartier Bay (Six-Mile) areas,” Stakeholder Advisor Jennifer Walker Jones said in a statement released late Friday. “We expect to plant about 65,000 plugs on BC Hydro-owned drawdown zone land. Species planted will include lenticular sedge, Columbia sedge, water sedge, cottonwood, and rose.”
The utility will also cut cottonwood stakes from a number of areas above the high water-mark in Revelstoke Reach. These stakes will be stored over the winter for planting planned next spring.
The goal of the Revegetation Program is to maximize plant growth and increase the number of plant species growing in the Arrow Lakes Reservoir drawdown zone. This program was recommended by the Columbia River Water Use Plan Consultative Committee and is expected to enhance wildlife habitat. The program targets the upper six metres of the drawdown zone between elevations 434 metres and 440 metres, where planting is most likely to result in self-sustaining plant communities.
The Revegetation Program is not linked to BC Hydro’s dust control program. BC Hydro expects to continue to plant fall rye grass at lower elevations in the Arrow Lakes Reservoir as needed to control dust.
