A huge surge of interest in slough restoration bubbled up in the community last year.
Now a new group called Friends of the Slough is forming in Chilliwack.
“It’s time to gather so we can officially create the Friends of the Slough citizen group to better organize our efforts around these waterways,” according to an online notice.
The Jan. 31 meeting will be facilitated by Lina Azeez of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society and Roxanna Froese of #SOS Save Our Slough.
They’ll be talking about various aspects of restoration and identifying current, completed or upcoming projects.
“We also want to gain some understanding of who’s interested in supporting this work and perhaps by the end of the evening create some next steps for action e.g. on the ground activities or creating a formalized mandate for the group.”
Residents have told city hall repeatedly they would like to see the Camp-Hope slough system restored but the obstacle has always been the considerable cost.
More than 150 people showed up to a meeting on slough restoration last fall.
Many have said publicly they’d like to see the slough systems cleaned up of all the weeds and canary grass overgrowth, and made usable for recreation, with a fresh water source and fish habitat.
City officials have been researching the best way to improve the waterways, and have started quantifying costs and restoration options.
The Friends of the Slough group meets Jan. 31, 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., at Stó:lō Service Agency, Building #10 -7201 Vedder Road.
