After decades of separation, a section of the Columbia River floodplain at Moberly Marsh is now reconnected to the river, restoring natural processes that support healthy wetlands, wildlife, and downstream communities.
Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and BC Parks have completed construction of the first phase of the Moberly Marsh Floodplain and Wetland Restoration Project within Burges James Gadsden Provincial Park and a portion of land owned by DUC, approximately 15 kilometres north of Golden, B.C.
Moberly Marsh is a large floodplain situated along the Columbia River and largely within the 401-hectare provincial park. In the 1970s and 1980s, the site was engineered with dikes and water control structures to create stable water levels for nesting and migratory waterfowl. While effective at creating waterfowl habitat in the short-term, separating the floodplain from the river altered natural ecosystem processes, reduced biodiversity, and required increasingly costly infrastructure to maintain.
Today, DUC and BC Parks are applying lessons learned from past management approaches to restore natural hydrology, processes, and habitat to the landscape. The project is helping replenish valuable wetland habitat near the globally recognized Columbia Wetlands Wildlife Management Area while building ecological resilience.
By opening the existing dike in strategic locations, water from the Columbia River can once again enter and flood the marsh during higher water levels, approximately every two years. This reconnection allows the floodplain to function as it once did—absorbing water, slowing flows and supporting diverse wetland species.
Phase 1 construction of this five-year project was completed at Braul Marsh, the northernmost compartment of Moberly Marsh, in late 2025. This phase restores 57 hectares of floodplain habitat and includes three dike openings. These openings were carefully designed by engineers to increase floodplain connectivity while retaining portions of the existing dike that provide high-quality upland forest and shrub habitat for songbirds.
Construction was timed to avoid sensitive bird and amphibian nesting and breeding periods, and extensive planning and design were completed in advance of ground-breaking. This work included archaeological assessments, river modelling, engineered design, baseline ecological monitoring, and revegetation planning.
Why the project matters
The Moberly Marsh floodplain restoration project is:
• Restoring natural river-floodplain connections, improving ecosystem health and resilience,
• Enhancing habitat for plants, waterfowl, songbirds, amphibians and mammals, and
• Boosting climate change adaptation by improving water storage and slowing flows downstream.
DUC and BC Parks gratefully acknowledges the significant financial support of the following organizations: the Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program, the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, the BC Parks License Plate Program, the Province of B.C.’s Watershed Security Fund, which is delivered by the Real Estate Foundation of BC, with financial support from the Province of British Columbia as part of its $10-billion COVID-19 response, Fall Flights, a program of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies that directs U.S. state funding to waterfowl breeding habitat work in Canada, and Columbia Basin Trust for its contribution to the privately-owned portion of Braul Marsh. DUC and BC Parks also gratefully acknowledge support for the project by ʔakisq̓nuk First Nation and Shuswap Band.
About Ducks Unlimited Canada: Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is the country’s largest land conservancy and a leader in wetland conservation. A registered charity, DUC uses sound science and partners with Indigenous Peoples, government, industry, non-profit organizations and landowners to conserve wetlands that are critical to waterfowl, wildlife and the environment. To learn more about DUC’s innovative environmental solutions and services, visit www.ducks.ca.
