Cotter Hollow Stream Improvement Project: Phase 1

The Kennebecasis Watershed Restoration Committee will develop a restoration plan for Cotter Hollow Stream, a cold‑water headwater system that currently supports brook trout and has strong potential as refuge and rearing habitat for Atlantic salmon parr. A 2025 electrofishing survey confirmed a healthy trout population, and the stream’s intact riparian forest, cold spring inputs, and gravel‑boulder substrate make it ideal for salmonid use. However, access is currently blocked by a perched culvert at the stream mouth, and an abandoned, non‑maintained road running alongside and across the stream has caused habitat degradation and sediment inputs. Through collaboration with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, engineers, and landowners, the project will evaluate culvert replacement, road decommissioning or conversion to a trail, and bank stabilization measures. The completed plan will guide removal of fish passage barriers, improve hydraulic and sediment conditions, and open approximately 4,500 metres of high‑quality refuge and potential spawning habitat to salmonids.