Residents of a southeast Calgary suburb suggest a treasured wetland in their neighbourhood – once teeming with wildlife – is quickly drying out.
“We bought the property because of the beautiful wetland that was in the backyard,” Marili Bourne said. Her family purchased the property in 2012. “It was beautiful – a wetland full of life – ducks, geese and full of water.”
“We would leave our windows open at night so that we would hear them,” neighbour Taruna Lakha added. “Now… not a single duck – nothing at all.”
They said over the last two months the wetland has been disappearing and they suspect nearby construction may be to blame.
“They were digging a very big hole – I would guess around 15 metres deep. Maybe it had something to do with the drainage of the wetland,” Bourne said.
The developer responsible for the construction, Vesta Properties Alberta Ltd., told Global News there was no excavation, just regular stripping and grading for a new residential subdivision.
It suggested this wetland, like many others in southeast Calgary, is drying out because of lack of precipitation this year.
The City Parks department said determining whether the drying is part of a natural process or caused by construction is difficult. It has referred the issue to the province.
Alberta Environment said it is looking into it, but gave no timeline for an investigation.
“When!?” Lakha asked. “When the builder’s already gone? So nothing will be done here!”
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In the meantime, residents said they’re trying to cope with the effects of the wetland that was.
“It’s just mud and bad smell,” Bourne said. “We’re not enjoying summer as we used to. It’s different this year.”
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