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The Bowker Creek Watershed Management Plan is the result of many months of hard work from a forum of landowners, representatives from nongovernmental organizations, and local and senior government staff. Bowker Creek offers many recreational and community opportunities, but until this forum had assembled there were no clear objectives and actions to help move towards realizing this watershed's many potentials. Our goals are based on a vision where "the varied human and natural areas in the Bowker watershed are managed to minimize runoff and pollution, making Bowker Creek a healthy stream that supports habitat for native vegetation and wildlife, and provides a community greenway that connects neighbourhoods."
The plan is available for download here (pdf 2.74MB). If you are interested in helping us succeed in our vision and improve the community you live in, please contact us.
Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings and even explore the Bowker Creek Watershed. The following three layers are now avilalable for downloading and viewing:
Watershed outline
Watershed 2D
Watershed 3D
To view the files, first save them to your computer, then right click and select "Open With" and chose Google Earth for the program. To download and install Google Earth, please visit Google's site here
The Bowker Creek Restoration Demonstration Project showcases the application of bioengineering principles to improve the health and function of Bowker Creek. The project site is a 48 m section of Bowker Creek adjacent to St. Patrick’s Elementary School in the District of Saanich. Students from the University of Victoria's Restoration of Natural Systems Program used this site to completed the following two reports:
Revegetation Establishment Monitoring Principles and Practice
Restoration Demonstration Project Weed Management Assessment
The University of Victoria is leading the way in environmental stewardship by being Canada's first university to complete an Integrated Stormwater Management Plan. This plan provides visionary goals for enhancement of University natural areas to meet the increasing demand for Low Impact Development. The plan also outlines a series of small, medium and large scale projects to improve the water quality and reduce stormwater flows. One recommendation of the plan that benefits the Bowker Creek Watershed is that the University should ensure that the natural water storage area at the headwaters of Bowker Creek are preserved for stormwater management. UVic's Integrated Stormwater Management Plan, available here, provides a new direction in institutional policy that will result in cleaner water and healthier watersheds.
Environmental Restoration Concept Plans for Bowker Creek: Trent Street to Pearl Avenue
P.A. Harder and Associates Ltd. were retained by the Corporation of the District of Saanich to identify and assess environmental restoration options for the lower Bowker Creek. The scope of this study extended from the invert of the culvert at St. Patrick School (boundary between City of Victoria and District of Saanich) upstream to the outlet of the culvert at Pearl Avenue. An assessment of biophysical conditions was made for this section including observations on bank form, stability, channel characteristics and riparian vegetation characteristics. Specific objectives of this study were to:...CONTINUED...(pdf 1MB)...
The purpose of the City of Victoria Greenways Plan is to provide a policy framework and a series of strategies that will establish a Greenway system throughout the City of Victoria. This is a long-term plan that will be implemented over the next 50 years. City of Victoria Greenways Plan is available here (pdf 680K)
The goal of the City of Victoria Greenways Plan is threefold:
- to establish a human-powered* transportation network
- to restore native, aquatic and cultural habitats
- to provide opportunities for recreation
In 1997 the CRD Environment Committee retained SHIP Environmental Consultants Ltd and Reid Crowther & Partners Ltd to complete an initial assessment of the Bowker Creek Watershed. Water quality, aquatic biota, riparian condition, creek hydraulics and the recreational potentials of Bowker Creek were evaluated. The Bowker Creek Watershed Assessment found here provides an excellent base of information.
Ecological Evaluation and Issues of Concern for Bowker Creek
The Bowker Creek area on campus is vital to the ecological health of the region, as it forms the headwaters of the Bowker Creek watershed. Rich in biodiversity, it is considered the most valuable natural area on campus for wildlife. It has been accorded Sensitive Ecosystem status as part of the Sensitive Ecosystem Inventory taken by the CRD, PCC Green, and the Blue Spaces Strategy in 1996. The University of Victoria controls 18.2 acres of the Bowker Creek area, and therefore has a responsibility for proper stewardship of this integral area ....CONTINUED......
Collated by Adam Mjolsness (April 23, 2003)
The earliest available written accounts of Bowker Creek involve descriptions of the first settlers of Oak Bay. Two of these people, John Tod and John Sylvester Bowker, are often associated with the creek now because of....CONTINUED (pdf 40K)...
An educational brochure from the CRD about how impervious
surfaces impact the natural function of a watershed. The increase in impervious
surfaces has a larger impact on the environment than you might think.
In a forest, less than 1% of the rainwater flows directly overland as
surface runoff and into
creeks ....CONTINUED
(pdf 548K)....
