- Environment
- Shoreline Revegetation
Shoreline revegetation
Sherbrooke residents take the Magog and St. Francis rivers to heart. For residents, these rivers are recreational sites, define our landscape, are the source of our electric power, and are the very root of our city's history. Hence, we all must take care of them and protect their riparian strips.
What is a riparian strip?
The riparian strip is a zone of several meters of vegetation that serves as a buffer between the aquatic
environment and the land. On a property with a minor slope, a 10 m strip of wild vegetation should be
maintained. For properties with a steep slope,the distance to respect is 15 m.
For this reason all building construction or other work is forbidden on a riparian strip and shoreline, no matter how large the body of water. You should contact a building inspector before doing any work, such as repairing a retaining wall, stabilizing a bank or cuttingdown trees.
Why revegetate?
- Revegetation stabilizes shores and reduces erosion.
- Vegetation is a habitat for wildlife.
- Shade created by vegetation ensures coolness; water that is too warm will lead to the spread of unwanted algae and bacteria (particularly blue-green algae and fecal coliforms).
- Without vegetation, chemical fertilizers and those used for landscaping and lawns that are not absorbed flow directly into bodies of water. Hence, revegetation renews the banks' role of filtering contaminants.
What should I do?
- Stop mowing and pruning the riparian strip except for a path of a maximum width of 5 m to have access to the body of water
- Allow native plant species to regain their space
- Replant trees using appropriate species
- Prevent steep or smooth banks (asphalt, tires, grass, etc.)
- Stop fertilizing a property that borders a body of water.
If fertilizing is absolutely necessary, it should be done with natural fertilizers such as compost or slow-releasing formulas, and above all, care should be taken not to put more than the vegetation can absorb. None of the numbers on the fertilizer container should be higher than 10 (Ex.: 4-7-5). The idea is to reproduce, as much as possible, nature's cycle by, for example, leaving grass cuttings and shredded leaves on the ground. Planting clover is also a great way to reduce the need for nitrogenated fertilizer.
Examples of appropriate plant types for the revegetation of banks
Sweet gale, several types of willows, sweet fern,Virginia creeper, tamarack, cedar, and bearberry are all good species. For a complete list, visit the Fédération interdisciplinaire d'horticulture ornementale du Québec Web site. The Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et des Parcs Web site is also a good source of information.
The Ville de Sherbrooke leads by example In the spring of 2009, the Ville de Sherbrooke will begin a major project of characterizing municipal banks situated along Lake Magog and the Magog and St. Francis rivers. More than 30 km of banks will be analyzed. Areas found to be problematic will be revegetated. In order to complete this project by the fall of 2010, the Ville de Sherbrooke received a grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalies (FCM).
