RAIN GARDENS IMPROVE HEALTH OF BOWKER CREEK: “The fact that we have been given direction by City Council to move the Bowker Blueprint forward and look for opportunities to daylight the creek means everything. Unless you have the high level ‘this is what we want to do’ permission, pushing it up from the bottom really does not work,” stated Brianne Czypyha, City of Victoria representative on Bowker Creek Steering Committee
Note to Reader:
Released on Sunday, September 26th in conjunction with BC Rivers Day 2021 celebrations on Vancouver Island, A Beacon of Inspiration: Bowker Creek Blueprint and 100-Year Action Plan is a short history of building bridges of understanding from the past to the present and future. It is a story of local government champions and community leaders who share a vision, embrace shared responsibility, and are bringing Bowker Creek back to life.
Bowker Creek is about 8 kilometres in length, beginning at the University of Victoria and flowing through the municipalities of Victoria, Saanich and Oak Bay before discharging into the ocean. The Bowker Creek Initiative is a broad coalition of community, government, businesses and institutions who work collaboratively to protect and enhance the ecological, social and economic health of the Bowker Creek watershed.
Rain Gardens Improve Health of Bowker Creek
In September 2021, the City of Victoria announced that it is rehabilitating two existing rain gardens on Hillside Avenue to clean rainwater entering Bowker Creek. The rain gardens will receive new soil, trees and a mix of native and climate adaptive plants to help the gardens clean and absorb water runoff from the road and reduce the volume of rainwater runoff flowing to the creek.
“Rehabilitating rain gardens is an important step to improve the quality and quantity of stormwater reaching Bowker Creek and reaffirms our decade long commitment to improving the health of the watershed,” said Councillor Jeremy Loveday, Council liaison to Oaklands. “Thanks to leadership from local residents and our Bowker Creek Initiative partners, significant strides have been made to restore the ecological health of this natural amenity for our communities and wildlife to enjoy for decades to come.”
In addition to the rain garden rehabilitation, the City of Victoria has established the Rainwater Rewards program to encourage rainwater management on residential properties. The program helps homeowners sustainably manage rainwater on their properties by providing incentives to install features such as rain gardens and permeable pavers that improve the quality of runoff reaching the Creek and help restore the health of the watershed.
BC Rivers Day 2021 Celebration
The Bowker Creek Blueprint is the 100-year action plan that guides the restoration of the Bowker Creek watershed and was endorsed by Victoria, Saanich and Oak Bay. To celebrate the 10-Year Anniversary of the Bowker Creek Blueprint, the Friends of Bowker Creek hosted a creekside concert on September 26, World Rivers Day, at King’s Road Community Nature Greenspace (at Kings and Haultain).
Residents and visitors were invited to attend to learn more about 10 years of action to restore the creek and check out live music and family-friendly activities.
To learn more, visit bowkercreek.org/events/.
Community Outreach and Engagement
“The arts help keep the Bowker Blueprint fresh when you ally that with the basic goals,” emphasizes Soren Henrich, Chair of the Friends of Bowker Creek Society. “Consider, for example, the Bike-Powered Creekside Concert Series. This began in 2019 in partnership with James Davis of Tune Your Ride. The concert series is one way we make use of the arts to engage people.”
“You never know who will be in the audience; nor where and how their participation may lead. In 2020, City of Victoria Councillor Jeremy Loveday participated in the creekside concert series as a spoken word performer.”
“Afterwards, he asked about the 10-year review of the Blueprint. He offered to help at the Council level and then followed through on his commitment. Months later, in February 2021, he and Councillor Ben Isitt put forward a 12-clause motion of support that Council passed unanimously.”
We All Live in a Watershed
“The Bowker Creek Blueprint is a 100-year action plan to peel back the pavement, daylight an historical creek, and restore nature within the Victoria urban region on Vancouver Island. The intergenerational commitment by so many players is inspirational,” states Kim Stephens, author of A Beacon of Inspiration, and Executive Director of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia.
“We need to work collaboratively and cooperatively to put the Bowker Blueprint vision into action. The watershed does look different depending on which municipality you are standing in. But, at the end of the day, what happens in Saanich does have an effect on the creek as it flows through Victoria, and then as it flows through Oak Bay,” continues Brianne Czypyha, Stormwater Management Specialist with the City of Victoria.
“And now in Victoria when we are looking at development projects, we think about the watershed context. When we ask developers to use green stormwater infrastructure, we consider how it would affect the creek, the flows, the water quality, and downstream neighbours.”
“Daylighting is a huge long-term project. With the completion of the feasibility study, which included input from other departments, we now have options for where the creek could go and what it could look like.”
“Because we know where stream daylighting overlaps with other City plans and policies, we can take the next step to look at what we could do on the ground and what it could cost. We are well-placed for grant applications or emerging opportunities for partnerships.”
“Victoria is a fully developed city. Because most of the work happening within the city is redevelopment which is increasing density, it is so important for us to be looking for opportunities to integrate rainwater management with landscaping features, and maximize the use of space for multiple benefits. The idea of multi-functional landscaping is key because we don’t have as much room for wetlands and riparian areas.”
To Learn More:
Download a copy of “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Bowker Creek Blueprint is a Beacon of Inspiration”
