BOWKER CREEK BLUEPRINT: “At the City of Victoria, we prefer to call it the Bowker Creek Greenprint because this is all about being environmentally responsible and improving water quality. The Trent Street Rain Gardens is a good thing to do, and I am proud to be part of the process. We are now looking at building two more rain gardens. We will be moving full speed ahead,” stated Steven Fifield, the City’s Manager of Underground Utilities (February 2010)
Note to Reader:
The Bowker Creek Blueprint part of the Bowker Creek Forum program was structured in three segments (or modules): Development, Actions and Implementation.
The morning program comprised two Bowker modules. The afternoon program began with the third Bowker module. Representatives of the District of Saanich and City of Victoria presented their municipal perspectives on Blueprint implementation. Adriane Pollard and Anne Top set the scene for Steven Fifield to provide an on-the-ground example of what implementation looks like. The example was the Trent Street Rain Garden.
Trent Street Rain Gardens
“You have to be committed and you have to think long-term. I believe the City of Victoria is forward thinking in terms of environmental responsibility. As soon as we heard about rain gardens, we felt that they were the way to go. So we had to find an opportunity to build one and be successful,” stated Steven Fifield.
“We looked and we thought, and then a situation presented itself. This was on Trent Street, a small cul-de-sac in an institutional area. Bowker Creek is nearby. So location-wise, this was a great opportunity.”
“We got buy-in from the Capital Regional District and St. Patrick’s School. They also saw it as a learning opportunity.”
“This type of green feature is the future of good watershed management in Bowker Creek and other watersheds in our region.”
To Learn More:
Download a copy of the PowerPoint presentation by Steven Fifield: Trent Street Rain Gardens (4.9MB PDF)
Download a copy of a Call to Action: Bowker Creek Forum advances a ‘regional team approach’ in the Georgia Basin
Watch Steven Fifield on YouTube
An introduction to Steve Fifield (0:40)
The Challlenge of Change (3:18)
The Right Thing & Community Buy-In (2:42)
Dealing with Practical Challenges (0:56)
Building the Rain Gardens (2:34)
The Finished Rain Gardens (2:22)
Project Costs (0:45)
Full Speed Ahead (1:46)
