The Campbell Creek Restoration Project is a four-year project that started in 2019. The project is a partnership between NGOs, Wolastoqey communities and organizations, and the City of Fredericton. A major part of the restoration is the removal of the >100-year old Campbell Creek dam that was built to provide water to the Marysville Cotton Mill. The dam is undersized, a public safety liability, and has never provided fish passage.
By removing the dam and restoring access to Campbell Creek, anadromous species like Atlantic salmon will be provided with a net gain of quality spawning and rearing habitat. This will provide access to 33 km2 (over 22 km of stream length) of high-quality spawning and rearing habitat as well as a cold-water source.
The NWAI has collected environmental, physical, and biological data at Campbell Creek since 2017. We have written a baseline conditions document that will allow us to compare pre- and post-removal conditions.
In 2020, the headpond was drawn down using gravity siphons and a notch was cut in the dam. Engineering plans were developed and the permitting process began. The dam will be removed in the summer of 2021 after which the NWAI will plant the former headpond with native trees, shrubs, and grasses and monitor its recovery over the next several years.
The Campbell Creek Restoration Project is a partnership between the Nashwaak Watershed Association, the Maliseet Nation Conservation Council, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, St. Mary’s First Nation, the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick, and the City of Fredericton
