A P.E.I. watershed group is digging up close to an acre of land beside West River to build a by-pass pond, which will help remove sediment from the stream.

Heavy rains cause water to flush sand and soil into Island streams and choke out life in the rivers.

Charley Ralph, the watershed foreman for the West River Watershed Group, said the goal is to make the river healthy again.

"We're trying to restore the river back to the way it used to be and the stream is actually diverted into a pond that we dig," Ralph said.

"So we have an entrance where the stream comes into the pond and the silt will actually drop out of the water as it flows through the pond and then the water exits back into the stream with what's for all intents and purposes, clean water."

The project will also help spawning fish on the river.