Bowker Blueprint Update: “Watershed Moment” in BC’s Capital Region Connects the Future with the Past

Flagship Project in Oak Bay Demonstrates Commitment to Restoring Watershed Function 

The Bowker Creek Blueprint is precedent-setting. Implementation over the next 100 years will incrementally restore the ‘water balance’ in the urban heart of British Columbia’s Capital Region. And thanks to an influx of cash from the federal government, a stretch of Bowker Creek next to Oak Bay high school will soon have a very different look.

"The Oak Bay High project is an excellent example of how collaboration between local governments, senior levels of government and the school district can produce such positive results for the entire community," states Nils Jensen, Mayor of Oak Bay. "This project also demonstrates Oak Bay's commitment to the preservation and enhancement of our natural environment."

This reach of Bowker Creek is currently contained in an open concrete channel, sustaining no aquatic life or native riparian habitat.

Working Towards a Common Vision

“This flagship project will transform a section of Bowker Creek from a degraded, highly urbanized creek into a naturally functioning water environment. This is a huge catalyst for moving forward and seeing the fulfillment of the watershed vision that is outlined in the Bowker Creek Blueprint,” states Jody Watson, Chair of the Bowker Creek Initiative.

“With the recent acceptance by all three partner municipalities of the Bowker Creek Blueprint: A 100-year action plan to restore the Bowker Creek watershed, moving forward with the flagship Oak Bay High project is a true ‘watershed moment’ for the creek and the community. It will be a wonderful example of how a long-term coordinated plan to restore function to a degraded watershed can happen, piece by piece, and when opportunities arise, when we work together towards a common vision.”

"It's a watershed moment, because it connects the future to all the work that was done in the past," notes Soren Henrich, who represents the Friends of Bowker Creek on the BCI Steering Committee.
 

“In local government, we have seen what works and what doesn’t. The Bowker Creek Blueprint is the outcome of a landscape-based and action-oriented process. It is a truly integrated plan to restore watershed function over time: Agree on the vision. Set the targets. Provide municipal staff with the detail necessary to guide site level decisions as opportunities arise. Then implement,” concludes Jody Watson.

 

TO LEARN MORE: To download the news release about the funding announcement by Infrastructure Canada, click on Oak Bay to rehabilitate and transform section of Bowker Creek.

The Bowker Creek Blueprint demonstrates how major breakthroughs happen when decision makers in government collaborate with grass-roots visionaries in the community to create desired outcomes. To learn more, click on Bowker Blueprint Update: “Watershed Moment” in BC’s Capital Region Connects the Future with the Past.

In February 2010, the Bowker Creek Forum attracted provincial attention to the precedent-setting nature of the Bowker Creek Blueprint. To access the "homepage" established on the Waterbucket website for this transformational event, click here. 

E-Blast #2012-15

April 17, 2012