Vancouver Island Water

GEORGIA BASIN INTER-REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE: “We have shown that this partnership model works where the community groups collect the data and we can ensure that it is of a quality that meets government standards,” stated Ally Badger, biologist with Aquatic Research & Restoration Centre of the BC Conservation Foundation, and coordinator for Vancouver Island Community Flow Monitoring Network

Note to Reader:

Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. Stories are structured in three parts: One-Minute Takeaway, Editor’s Perspective, and the Story Behind the Story (REPRODUCED BELOW).

The edition published on May 6, 2025 featured the Vancouver Island Community Flow Monitoring Network. The story behind the story is structured in four parts. An over-arching message is that flow monitoring is a springboard to broader initiatives which can then inform community planning. The idea for a community-based flow monitoring network was seeded years ago in conversations between Peter Law and Neil Goeller, former colleagues in the Ministry of Environment.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Mobilize Stewardship Groups, Close Data Gap in Community Planning –
a conversation with Ally Badger and Peter Law

The story behind the story is structured in four parts. In Part One, Ally Badger reflects on why the community-based approach is proving so effective in mobilizing citizen scientists.

In Part Two, Peter Law reflects on his career experience to provide historical context, both for his interest in “getting the numbers” and his collaboration with Neil Goeller. He then illustrates why and how Shelly Creek is a living laboratory for citizen science in action.

The data collected under the community based flow monitoring program are high quality thanks to the standards set by Neil Goeller. Data are reliable and useful. In Part Three, Ally Badger elaborates on how the data feed into the provincial Aquarius database for use in making decisions.

Part Four presents “look ahead perspectives” by Peter Law and Ally Badger. An over-arching message is that flow monitoring is a springboard to broader initiatives which can then inform community planning.

Shelly Creek applied research is where it all began

“I did my BSc at Vancouver Island University which is where I met Peter Law and got involved in his Shelly Creek project. And that is also how I got my job with the BC Conservation Foundation because they were supporting the Shelly Creek project,” explains Ally Badger.

Shelly Creek is a living laboratory for applied research at the grassroots level, in large part due to the curiosity and humble leadership of Peter Law. He has a career history of breaking new ground with several provincial initiatives.

PART ONE: Vancouver Island community-based approach is replicable in other regions

“When you look at Vancouver Island, of the many thousands of streams, the majority are very small,” observes Ally Badger. “When you think about numbers such as 10 percent of the Mean Annual Discharge, what does that look like on a small stream? “

“The small streams are already the most impacted by humans, especially in the urban watersheds where streams have been re-routed and culverted. Just having baseline flow data to understand the quantity of water that is already there seasonally will make such a difference.”

“With a baseline, we can monitor and assess impacts to streams over time. Then we will be in a position to enact conservation and restoration initiatives to improve stream function. But first we need to know where they are at now!”

Moving towards a role defined as the provincial coordinator of regional coordinators

“My role is that of a regional coordinator. I coordinate groups and distribute the training and help coordinate people to actually do the monitoring. The idea is that you could have other regional coordinators around the province or anywhere applying this model that we have created.”

“There is real potential for this program to expand. Even on the island we have made connections with other not for profits up and down the east coast of the island. We envision possibly even having coordinators for smaller regional areas so that they can help to coordinate stewardship groups at that level.”

PART TWO: Community-based approach had its genesis in Shelly Creek water balance study

“During my career, we never really had a very robust way of analyzing flow in very small streams because the Water Survey of Canada stations were all on larger systems,” states Peter Law.

“There were always these numbers that were bopping around in the 1980s and 1990s. 10 percent of the Mean Annual Discharge was considered critical to maintenance of most freshwater salmonids in small streams. And 20 percent was supposed to be a good summertime mean flow.”

“Neil Goeller seemed to understand that you have to get down to some smaller watersheds with flow monitoring if we are going to understand the needs of freshwater ecosystems, and in particular fish in smaller tributaries and smaller coastal watersheds.”

“While my interest in streamflow monitoring is primarily fisheries in nature, the different groups involved in the community network have a wide variety of objectives. And these are not necessarily fisheries objectives.”

Shelly Creek is a living laboratory for applied research

“During my last years working at the ministry, I got to know Neil briefly and thought he would be a great guy to continue working with after I left in 2010. And so we did.”

“That same year, MVIHES initiated the Shelly Creek Water Balance and Sediment Reduction Plan in the City of Parksville. We needed to understand the watershed hydrology so that we could make the case to fix the hydrology.”

“In the 1980s, Jim Dumont did low flow analysis related to Alberta’s Old Man River. This work was precedent-setting for the time. The Albertans came up with the same findings for low flow fisheries needs as reported in the research for Montana watersheds.”

Shelly Creek set a high bar for citizen science in action

“It had long been an interest of mine, particularly in the mid-Island area, to see if we could get the services of the BC Conservation Foundation. Over time I linked up with Vancouver Island University and we did a small project on Shelley Creek during the heat dome of 2021.”

“We married two projects. The year before, in 2020, we had started a flow measurement initiative. This meant we had overlapping information for one year, 2021, which was the the year of the heat dome. This turned out to be an eye-opener because it was a worst-case scenario for drought flow.”

“The fish movement project was done as a directed study at Vancouver Island University. This means that the student has to know how to write a scientific paper, present the data, analyze the data, and defend the data. Ally Badger did it all. It was a lot of fun!”

“We learned from Ally Badger’s work that most Shelly Creek trout spent their entire summer in a single pool under a log or tree root, because flows were so low they could not move. It highlighted how vulnerable these fish are, and the importance of wood debris that creates deep pools for escape.”

Curious to learn more?

Download a PDF copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Shelly Creek in Parksville is a “living laboratory” published on April 25 2023.

PART THREE: Quality of community flow monitoring data meets provincial standards

“Our relationship with Neil Goeller in undertaking this program has always been significant. This project is part of his conception,” continues Ally Badger. “Neil Goeller and Thea Rodgers, my predecessor at BCCF, are the ones who initiated the Community Flow Monitoring Network and brought it to life.”

“The Province has a really strong interest in a project like this because they are limited in capacity and resources to do the monitoring of super small watersheds.”

“There are a lot of groups out there that have the passion and the interest. They have the people power and capacity to actually get out there and do the hands-on work. They just need a bit of help, which is where we come in.”

Apply the data, make a difference in local government decision making, and spur even more momentum

“We debunked the idea that community level data are not good enough to be in the provincial government database or be reliable and usable.”

“We are at the point now that we are actually starting to get data published. It has taken a few years. We now have data available on Aquarius that we are able to share with different local government partners. We are starting to see the results. This is really exciting.”

“Peter Law emphasizes how important it is for the groups to understand the hydrology of small streams. It is not just the low flows that are of concern and whether there is enough water. It is also when the water comes,” Ally Badger emphasizes.

PART FOUR: Canadian first for a “community-based network approach” to hydrometrics

“Most of these stewardship groups draw on people who live around the streams,” reports Ally Badger.

“Who better to be out there learning and gaining experience with the tools to do the work. And then taking the knowledge gained through this process to advocate for their streams.”

“To the best of our knowledge, nobody else in Canada has done this type of community-based network approach for hydrometrics before. There have been other types of monitoring, such as for lakes. But we are the only ones who have done it for hydrometrics.”

“In the long-term,” adds Peter Law, “what is going on down here on the ground is going to be more useful or as useful as the higher level stuff that the Province is doing. Neil Goeller is in touch with the grassroots. That is his strength. Do not lose sight of that, Neil.”

Flow monitoring is a springboard to broader initiatives which can then inform community planning

“As Peter Law is showing through his work, first on Shelly Creek in Parkville and now at Cottle Creek in Nanaimo, streamflow monitoring can lead to broader initiatives and projects because we have information to work with,” continues Ally Badger.

“It is great to have the network as a resource for everything related to stream health other than just the flow-specific training aspect.”

“We are really trying to work with that network aspect so that it is very collaborative, with groups knowing each other and what each other is doing. They can then share resources and experiences as well,” concludes Ally Badger.

To Learn More:

Waterbucket eNews stories are structured in three parts: One-Minute Takeaway, Editor’s Perspective and Context for Busy Reader, and the Story Behind the Story. To read the complete 3-part storyline, download a PDF copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Mobilize Stewardship Groups, Close Data Gap in Community Planning.