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Bowker Creek Blueprint

    A VISION WITH A TASK IS THE HOPE OF THE WORLD: “Honouring of Jody Watson with the 2023 Watershed Moments Award is both timely and a great example how one individual with a long term vision and determination can make a difference,” stated Eric Bonham at the Partnership for Water Sustainability Forum held in Nanaimo (October 2023)


    “Early in her career, Jody Watson realized the importance and value of local government-community relationships built upon mutual trust, respect and common purpose. In her role as Supervisor of Environmental Initiatives, Jody has emphasized collaboration and teamwork at every opportunity. Creative community partnerships are being forged to address changing circumstances. An able communicator and mentor who ‘walks her talk’, Jody is both a visionary and a pragmatist, for the vision and task are equally important, and that is what makes the difference,” stated Eric Bonham.

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    NEW YORK CITY IS UNEARTHING A BROOK IT BURIED A CENTURY AGO: For decades, environmentalists and local activists campaigned to resurface the long-buried stream. Now, a changing climate is making what they struggled to achieve necessary. The Tibbetts Brook story provides a frame of reference for appreciating the scope of the Bowker Creek Blueprint and 100-year Action Plan, a “beacon of inspiration” on Vancouver Island (December 2021)


    Amy Chester, the managing director of Rebuild by Design, a nonprofit group, said that daylighting projects, like the one to reroute Tibbetts Brook, are important in making New York City more resilient. “We’re looking back to see what we took away from nature,” she said. “And when we give it back to nature, we’re creating an asset to face climate change.” The plan to daylight Tibbetts Brook would be one of the city’s most ambitious green infrastructure projects. The brook would be rerouted above ground for one mile — including along a former railroad line that would be turned into a new greenway.

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    FRAMEWORK FOR COLLABORATIVE INTER-MUNICIPAL WATERSHED IMPLEMENTATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA’S CAPITAL REGION: “We ask property redevelopment proponents how they plan to achieve the goals for the Council-endorsed 100-year action plan for the Bowker Creek Blueprint. They are adjusting their designs, and on a voluntary basis,” stated the City of Victoria’s Brianne Czypyha at an inter-regional seminar titled “A Beacon of Inspiration on Vancouver Island”, and hosted by the City of Vancouver’s Green Infrastructure Implementation team (September 2021)


    “While we have had early successes, we must recognize that a 100-year plan will have a lot of challenges. And so, we are thinking about how we will achieve intergenerational implementation. This is an important consideration as people retire or leave. How do we ensure, for example, that we don’t miss those opportunities when properties are coming up for redevelopment. How do we ensure that we are asking for the right things? The Framework for Collaborative Inter-Municipal Watershed Implementation is a fantastic document. It identifies what planning tools we can use for implementation of the Bowker Creek Blueprint,” stated Brianne Cyzpyha.

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    A BEACON OF INSPIRATION: “Seeing that Bowker Blueprint map at the Creekside Concert Series event in 2020 was the moment that shifted my understanding that our city is overlaid upon watersheds. that was the moment when I asked what more can I do?” stated Councillor Jeremy Loveday after City of Victoria Council passed the game-changing motion that launched the second decade of the 100-Year Action Plan


    “You never quite know what is going to create a moment for someone that will shift their understanding forever. But we must do our best to make sure that we are presenting the opportunities for those moments to be created. I came to see celebration of the 10th anniversary as an opportunity for the City of Victoria to recommit to the Blueprint plus bring awareness of it to the forefront of people’s understanding of the city that they live in, and the difference that their actions can have on the watershed,” stated City of Victoria Councillor Jeremy Loveday.

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    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


    “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,” stated Brianne Czypyha.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY: “Story of the Bowker Creek Forum” – a compendium of six articles provide insight as to why the Bowker Creek Blueprint and 100-Year Action Plan for restoration of natural function in an urban watershed is precedent-setting and unique; and how it demonstrates the power of collaboration between the local government and stewardship sectors in BC’s Capital Region (February 2010)


    Located in the urbanized heartland of the Capital Regional District, the Bowker Creek watershed is shared by three municipalities – Victoria, Oak Bay and Saanich. “A desired outcome in holding the Bowker Creek Forum was to share information about successful approaches, so that they could be replicated in other jurisdictions. The forum was a chance for regional organizations, businesses and community members to learn about and celebrate the accomplishments of the Bowker Creek Initiative,” stated Tanis Gower.

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    BOWKER CREEK BLUEPRINT: “Why did we choose Bowker Creek when it is a rather degraded watershed? If we could make it right in Bowker Creek, we could make it right anywhere,” stated Jody Watson, Chair, Bowker Creek Initiative, when she told the story of the 100-Year Action Plan (February 2010)


    Once the Bowker Creek regional team ‘let go’ of the ISMP Template, they applied a ‘knowledge-based approach’ to watershed restoration. The experience was transformational; and laid the foundation for Blueprint development. The regional team convened as an inter-disciplinary roundtable to synthesize their individual areas of knowledge. “Drainage, land use, environmental and social information was compiled and assessed in an holistic way that enabled the members of the team to apply their collective best judgment, reach-by-reach,” stated Jody Watson.

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    BOWKER CREEK BLUEPRINT: “The reach-by-reach approach is marketing friendly for citizen and council. They can focus on the piece they know best and relate to the picture,” stated Anne Topp, (former) Manager of Community Planning, District of Saanich (February 2010)


    “I do not remember who came up with the idea to make this a 100-year plan but I think the group agreement to use the idea was brilliant. There are some big ideas in the plan and a 100-year time frame might take the sting out for the people thinking about all the little issues that could impact implementation. This approach gives us time. This plan is not just about water. It is about how this community wants to live and connect to the environment,” stated Anne Topp.

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    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)


    “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. 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. This type of green feature is the future of good watershed management in Bowker Creek and other watersheds in our region,” stated Steven Fifeild.

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    AT THE BOWKER CREEK FORUM: ‘We looked at all the players and all the different tools. To organize everything, we took an approach which we called the Shared Responsibility Matrix,” stated Susan Rutherford at the launch of the Topsoil Primer Set (February 2010)


    “The matrix is intended to get everyone thinking about the role that they can play; and get everyone talking to others about how they will all work together. It was an outcome of a forum hosted by the City of Surrey in 2009. The forum focus was on the implementation challenges of green infrastructure, and how to overcome them. We looked at law, policy, process and technical tools; and how people have most successfully brought those tools together to implement the objectives of green infrastructure,” stated Susan Rutherford.

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