Member of the Chéticamp River Salmon Association restoration team: Jeremy Camus (left), Kyle Lefort (centre) and Antoine Aucoin (right) take apart a blockage on Aucoin's brook.
Week 3: July 15th – July 19th was an eventful week for the Chéticamp River Salmon Association. Monday, the group travelled to a third beaver dam on Aucoin’s brook that had to be removed, only to find that the beaver had started to rebuild the dams removed last week. It was decided that we would have the beavers trapped before continuing work on the dams. The group then travelled to the section of heavy sediment buildup along Aucoin’s brook where they worked to redirect the flow of water into a single channel and reinforce the brook’s banks. Tuesday, the group, with the help of chainsaw operator Albert Deveau, cleared two partial blockages upstream from the area of heavy sediment buildup on Aucoin’s Brook. The group then started maintenance work on a crib just downstream from the partial blockages where sediment buildup has caused the brook water level to rise. The crib had to be built higher to accommodate this increased water level. Wednesday, with the help of Katherine from Adopt-a-Stream, the group learned how to installed brush mats, which are structures that help reduce silt levels in the water; the group finished the installation of two brush mats and started work on a third. These structures will have a major impact on the condition of the river in sections of Aucoin’s Brook near the gypsum mines trail. Because of the rainy conditions Thursday morning, the group stayed indoors and caught up on office work (creation of a CRSA Facebook page, blogging, data analysis, etc). Thursday afternoon, the group, with the help of Albert Deveau, continued work on the crib just downstream from the partial blockages where sediment buildup has caused the brook water level to rise. Logs were cut to length to add to the crib and were set in place for drilling. Friday the group continued work on the crib on Aucoin’s Brook. The rocks and carpet inside the crib were removed, and reinstalled in a more effective manner. The maintenance work on the crib has greatly decreased the volume of water getting through the structure and is having a positive impact on the brook.
Kyle Lefort (left) and Antoine Aucoin (right) tie down a brush mat on Aucoin's Brook.