Monitoring (Hydrology/Vegetation)

To determine whether the ditch blocking work is actually helping to raise the water table in Burns Bog, Delta implemented a comprehensive water level monitoring program in 2005.  Water levels are measured every four weeks using pipes that are anchored in many locations around the bog.  Delta tracks the water levels to see how the bog is responding to the ditch blockages and precipitation trends.

Measuring water levels in Burns Bog (Photos: Paul Whitfield)

It is also important to know how the changes in the water levels are affecting the vegetation in Burns Bog.  Ideally, higher water tables will promote the growth of Sphagnum peat moss, which is the ecosystem engineer that creates raised bogs.  Increased Sphagnum growth would indicate that the bog is responding positively to the higher water tables, which is what we hope to see.

Several scientific papers have been written to summarize the results of our restoration and monitoring programs:

• Canadian Water Resources Association conference 2006 (Whitfield et al. 2006)
• LAGG Form and Raised Bog Restoration Poster
• International Peat Congress (Howie et al. 2008)
• Canadian Water Resources Journal (Howie et al. 2009) (in press)

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