A Restoration Strategy for Swift’s Ditch, Jasper National Park

Abstract

The cultural and ecological history of Swift’s Irrigation Ditch (ie. Swift’s Ditch) in Jasper National Park (JNP), including information about the area’s landscape processes and patterns, was studied to develop recommendations for ecological restoration at the site. 

The ecological influence of massive projects such as the building of the railway, roads, and pipelines, has heavily impacted the landscape around the Palisades Centre and Swift’s Ditch, both changing the natural drainage regime and creating a drainage problem. On several occasions e.g. 1993, 1997, and 1998 in the last 20 years, spring flooding has occurred along the entry road to the Palisades Centre. The floodwaters concentrate at the 3-way junction of the Palisades Centre road, the Snaring road, and the off-ramp of Highway 16, posing a concern for the integrity of the road sub-base. 

The source of the flooding is the Palisades Creek which runs from an unnamed lake down the Palisades escarpment. It was diverted at some time in the past into an irrigation ditch, commonly called Swift’s Ditch. The study area to the east of Swift’s Ditch used to be a wetland complex or an Aspen forest regularly inundated by floodwaters. 

The purpose of this report is to suggest how Swift’s Ditch was created, and how the landscape has changed generally in the area. Methods used in the study included taking Global Positioning System (GPS) readings for landscape features, and consulting historical photographs, such as the photographs taken in 1915 by Morris P. Bridgland, Dominion Land Surveyor. Air photographs, historical development plans, and literature were reviewed and persons with knowledge of the site were interviewed. Vegetation transects were completed and soil pits were dug. The length of Swift’s Ditch was walked several times in different seasons from 2009 to 2010.