“WILWIC” series - (“Why I Like Working In Camrose”)
As an employee of the City of Camrose, “J” gets to be involved in a number of really neat projects. As well, thanks to the great work of a number of former employees and municipal Councils from years’ gone by, the City of Camrose is home to a number of facilities and amenities which help make this a great place to live. Fortunately for the geocaching community, there are a number of great caches already in Camrose which highlight some of the amazing amenities of this fair City. The intent behind this caching series is to highlight a few of the remaining – and possibly lesser visited – locations within Camrose, and to hopefully provide some interesting history or facts along the way.
Warning: Not all hides within this series will be winter-friendly. Some of the stages are also more kid friendly than others; although as a family with young kids, we’ve tried to keep these as accessible as possible without losing some of the challenge. In order to determine the coordinates for the final cache in this series (Planes, Trains and AGROmobiles - GC4KZGX), you will need to find the clues hidden in some (not necessarily all) of the prior 8 caches (or waypoints!) in the series. Good luck hunting!
WILWIC #1 - "Animals Love Water"
Storm management ponds (such as this wetland) are constructed to minimize the impact of development on the natural environment. Prior to an area being developed as residential, commercial or industrial lands, the majority of rain that falls during storm events is soaked into the ground. As an area is converted from a natural area or a farmer’s field into a developed area, the majority of rainfall and snowfall hitting a piece of property will largely run off the property, due to the increased proportion of impervious surfaces (buildings, parking lots and storage yards, and even some landscaped areas). This increase in runoff leaving a property can contribute to erosion and/or flooding issues on downstream properties and creeks following rainfall events.
To counter this effect, new developments or subdivisions are typically required to construct on-site or centralized stormwater retention ponds to allow the runoff from upstream properties and roadways to surge and flood in a controlled location, and slowly drain to the downstream environment in a controlled manner.
Much of the area located in the east end industrial park within Camrose was originally serviced and subdivided back in the late 1970’s and 1980’s, prior to the City having any requirement for on-site or centralized stormwater management. As the industrial park developed in the 80’s and 90’s, the City noticed that erosion was starting to happen in the downstream creeks and valleys.
In the early 2000’s, the City worked on the design for a constructed storm pond in the vicinity of 44 Avenue and 43 Street in Camrose. The construction contract was awarded in mid-2005 and the work was largely complete by the end of 2005, with some minor cleanup in the following years.
This storm pond was designed as a “constructed wetland,” which means that it was designed with a combination of deeper channel areas and shallower marshland areas to attempt to mimic a natural wetland. In addition to providing a controlled throttle point in the City’s overall drainage system to allow for controlled flooding on City owned lands, constructed wetlands allow sediments to settle out of the runoff, reducing the amount of sediments (such as sands and silts) that are being deposited in downstream creeks and rivers. As with natural wetlands, the native vegetation placed within a constructed wetland is also able to pull out some of the chemicals and nutrients that are in the runoff.
This storm pond was landscaped with low-maintenance, native vegetation to provide habitat for birds and other animals. Over the past number of years, a variety of animals have been seen in this area including ducks, bats, muskrats, deer and even the occasional pelican.
It should go without saying, but please leave the clues found at Stages 1 and 2 for the next cacher as there is only one copy. Bring a pen and paper to copy the clues down so that you don't have to come back to the previous stages to find the coordinates for the final.
