Bowker Creek Initiative

In 2022, an updated Bowker Creek watershed model was created to offer an engaging way of looking at urban watershed renewal. It is an interactive model that allows a wet display with water from a spray bottle to show how rain washes pollution into the creek and ocean, and how green stormwater management can reduce flooding, erosion, and keep pollution out of Bowker Creek. The model is used for public education at events and local schools. For information about viewing the watershed model contact the BCI coordinator. 

Community members have taken ownership of the creek and its stewardship through invasive species removal, water quality monitoring, fish habitat restoration and implementation of green infrastructure such as rain gardens. The amount and breadth of invasive species removal and restoration would not have been possible without the long-term collective efforts by community members making an important on-the-ground difference in the watershed. 

Restoration work is ongoing at:

• Cedar Hill Golf Course and Park
• Browning Park
• Oak Bay High School 
• Kings Rd. Community Nature Green Space
• Bowker Creek Walkway
• Monteith St. Native Plan Garden 
• Mt. Tolmie Park

Interested in volunteering? Check out Friends of Bowker Creek volunteer opportunities or Saanich Pulling Together events. 

In 2020, Friends of Bowker Creek started the community science initiative, Chum Salmon Recovery Project to restore Chum salmon to the lower reaches of Bowker Creek. 

The projects involves a multi-year process that combines action and study:

• Release and monitor Chum fry (young salmon) into the creek near Oak Bay High School over several years and track their survival as they migrate downstream.
• Assess the the creek's habitat, water quality, and flow, especially in the lower reaches near Oak Bay, to determine if they meet the needs of Chum salmon for migration, spawning, and egg development. This includes reviewing previous data and new assessments by community volunteers.
• Report on how well the creek can support a Chum salmon population, identifying issues and suggesting simple, effective restoration measures.
• Watch the adult Chum salmon as they return, assist with migration and spawning if needed, identify problems, and recommend solutions to improve habitat, water quality, and flow.
• Continuously monitor and assist Chum salmon through their life cycle, implementing improvements to work towards establishing a self-sustaining population. 

Visit Friends of Bowker Creek’s website to learn more about the project and how you can get involved. 

The restoration of Bowker Creek through Oak Bay High School lands ransformed this section of the creek into a healthier riparian environment and an accessible community greenspace. Construction took place between June and September, 2015.

Major project features include a winding creek that mimics a more natural water course, native plantings, an accessible pathway, a viewing area and an outdoor classroom. The projected improved water quality, habitat and flow conveyance, resulting in improved overall creek health. Flooding has decreased in downstream, and birds and other wildlife are using the site regularly.

Project details: 

1.    Photo essay - before restoration (2011) [PDF/1.5MB]

2.    Photo essay - after restoration (2015-2019) [PDF/2.6MB]

3.    time-lapse video of the creek re-construction.

In 2008, BCI restored the creekside riparian area near Monteith Street (behind Firefighter’s Park) in Oak Bay. The project created a demonstration native riparian restoration site and native plant garden – highlighting many edible native plants. With support from Oak Bay Parks, dedicated volunteers actively care for and develop the native garden for the long-term. 

Photo Essay [PDF/1.2MB]

Rain gardens allow rainwater to slower enter into the ground, helping divert rainwater away from storm drains and reducing peak flows in local waterways. The 1000 Rain Gardens Project aims to help us manage rainwater better by building 1000 rain gardens in the Bowker Creek watershed. 

Friends of Bowker Creek have partnered with Peninsula Streams Society and their Rain Gardens for Headwaters Program to build rain gardens through the capital region. To date, rain gardens have been built at Campus View Elementary. Learn more here. 

The CRD monitors water quality in Bowker Creek twice a year. CRD staff sample for basic indicators of urban water quality such as nutrients, hydrocarbons, fecal coliforms (sewage) and metals. This ongoing sampling provides a baseline against which improvement can be measured.

The 2023 water quality results were within the range of previous years data indicating that several basic indicators are at levels that are potentially harmful to aquatic life.

A more in-depth analysis throughout the watershed is conducted every 5 years. The latest comprehensive watershed assessment was completed in 2019 and staff will repeat that level of sampling again in summer and fall 2024.

CRD staff continue to work with a consultant to collect in-stream flow measurements. The flow data will result in a more refined estimate of creek discharge through different water levels at the CRD hydrometric station in Browning Park.

Interpretive signs throughout the watershed highlight the importance of Bowker Creek and what is being done in that area to protect it. The following interpretive open channel sections of Bowker Creek as well as where it flows under our feet in underground pipes:

·         Oak Bay [PDF/1.3MB]

·         Spirit Garden - Victoria [PDF/1.2MB]

·         Trent Street - Victoria [PDF/2.8MB]

·         Mount Tolmie - Saanich [PDF/2MB]

·         Oak Bay High Restoration [PDF/2.1MB]

·         University of Victoria - Headwaters [PDF/2.7MB]

·         Hillside Centre - Doncaster Street [PDF/1.5MB]

·         Hillside Centre - Shelbourne Street [PDF/2.9MB]

The blue and white sign marks the route that Bowker Creek follows as it winds its way from headwaters at UVic to the ocean at Oak Bay. Watch for these channel marker signs throughout the Bowker Creek watershed in Victoria, Saanich and Oak Bay. The lower sign explains the restoration work that volunteers have undertaken at Montheith St. native plant garden with help from Oak Bay Parks.

Friends of Bowker Creek host an annual Bowker Creek Biodiversity Day to raise awareness about Bowker Creek, the Bowker Creek Biodiversity Corridor and the vision for its future. 

Learn more on Friends of Bowker Creek’s website

The BCI steering committee is made up of the following partners:

• District of Saanich
• City of Victoria
• District of Oak Bay
• Capital Regional District
• Friends of Bowker Creek Society
• University of Victoria
• Camosun Community Association
• Quadra Cedar Hill Community Association
• North Jubilee Neighbourhood Association
• Community Association of Oak Bay
• School District 61

The BCI tries to maintain an appropriate balance of members, including a mix of people who represent diverse backgrounds, experiences, perspectives and neighbourhoods in the watershed. Selection criteria for public members and or groups to the BCI include:

• property ownership or residency in the Bowker Creek watershed preferred (but not required)
• willingness and ability to commit to the necessary time over a two year period
• demonstrated knowledge of the Bowker Creek watershed
• ability to work towards consensus with people who hold difference interests and opinions about the future of the Bowker Creek watershed
• skills and experience related to watershed topics are helpful (but not required)
• skills and expreience related to the roles and responsibilities associated with a steering committee are helpful (but not required)

Contact the BCI Coordinator for more information. 

In 1997, the Capital Regional District Environment Committee endorsed a regional watershed management strategy which prioritized various watersheds for the development of a management plan.  The need for a watershed management plan for Bowker Creek was identified as a high priority.  The Bowker Creek watershed is in the Capital Region and the creek extends from the University of Victoria through the District of Saanich and the City of Victoria, and discharges to the sea through the District of Oak Bay.

In 2002, the CRD convened a forum of government agencies, community organizations, landowners and residents to develop an integrated watershed management plan for Bowker Creek.  The forum participants recognized the need to protect and value characteristics of the Bowker Creek watershed. Public input was sought and the final plan reflects the views of the forum and members of the public.

In 2003, the municipalities of Saanich, Oak Bay and Victoria, and the CRD Board approved the Bowker Creek Watershed Management Plan (BCWMP).  In 2004 a steering committee, responsible for moving forward the implementation of the BCWMP, was created and a part-time coordinator hired to provide support to municipal staff and the community.  And with that, the Bowker Creek Initiative (BCI) was borne.

Thanks to the support of staff, community members and elected officials, implementation of the plan has been moving ahead. Many key projects have now been completed and more work is planned. With the municipal endorsement of the Bowker Creek Blueprint in 2012, many suggested watershed wide principles and specific actions are identified so they can be incorporated when opportunities arise.

The Bowker Creek Blueprint: A 100-year action plan to restore the Bowker Creek watershed, is the Bowker Creek Initiative’s unique version of an Integrated Stormwater Master Plan (ISMP). It is a document that sets out watershed principles and specific actions that balanced the social, economic and environmental factors of urban watershed renewal.

• 2011 Full document [PDF/19.1MB]
• Appendix A: Actions for Watershed Management [PDF/167KB]
• Appendix B: Actions to Improve the Creek Corridor [PDF/3.1MB]

Municipal Endorsement

District of Oak Bay: July 23, 2012 [PDF/267KB]
City of Victoria: Sept. 22, 2011 [PDF/201KB]
District of Saanich: Oct. 17, 2011 [PDF/0.9MB]

School District Endorsement

School District 61: March 12, 2018 [PDF/57KB]

Support Letters

• Community Association of Oak Bay [PDF/172KB]
• Camosun Community Association [PDF/157KB]
• Friends of Bowker Creek Society [PDF/208KB]
• Mount Tolmie Community Association [PDF/97KB]
• North Jubilee Neighbourhood Association [PDF/248KB]
• Quadra Cedar Hill Community Association [PDF/89KB]
• University of Victoria [PDF/402KB]

The study developed proposed creek daylighting options, considering land use, engineering, and integration with greenways, and possible creek cross-sections.  

Daylighting Feasibility Study [PDF/104.3MB]

Companion report [PDF/32.1MB] describes potential stormwater management facilities in the Bowker Creek watershed.  

The framework provides tools such as development guidelines, bylaws, and programs to achieve the 20 private-property specific watershed-wide actions of the Bowker Creek Blueprint. It also highlights areas for the municipalities to work together to address gaps and roadblocks in the Blueprint implementation.

Framework for Collaborative Inter-Municipal Watershed Implementation [PDF/6.1MB]

The Bowker Creek Watershed Management Plan guides all activities undertaken by the Bowker Creek Initiative. This watershed management plan has been developed under the sponsorship of the Capital Regional District (CRD) as part of the Watershed Management Strategy that was approved by the Environment Committee in 1997.   A forum of landowners, representatives from nongovernmental organizations, and local and senior government staff was convened by the CRD to develop an integrated watershed management plan for Bowker Creek to recognize and protect valued characteristics of the watershed.  Public input was sought and the BCWMP plan, finalized in 2003, reflects the views of the forum and members of the public.  

The Bowker Creek Watershed Management Plan [PDF/2.5MB]

An assessment of the Bowker Creek watershed was completed and provided important information to the public forum that developed the watershed management plan.

Bowker Creek Watershed Assessment [PDF/6.8MB]

The restoration of Bowker Creek through Oak Bay High School lands transformed this section of the creek into a healthier riparian environment and an accessible community greenspace. 

• Project Description [PDF/320KB]
• Stream Rehabilitation Concept Design Technical Memo  
• Final Restoration Design [PDF/16.8MB]
• Restoration Photo Essay 2019 

The 2020 plan provides guidance to balance preservation of the natural environment and space for physical and social wellbeing and the community. This report included a technical assessment of Reach 17 of Bowker Creek for creek daylighting, restoration and storage.

Cedar Hill Park Management Plan 

Bowker Creek excerpt 

The 2017 plan proposes to develop vibrant development areas that balance economic growth, while enhancing and protecting the natural environment and provide opportunities for cycling, walking and transit. It proposes higher densities to encourage redevelopment along Shelbourne Street near the open and piped sections of Bowker Creek.

• Environmental Restoration Concept Plans for Bowker Creek Trent to Pearl Avenue [PDF/1MB]