Reef Ball Project off Ogden Point
Marine Mammal Monitoring Program M3
2000 Times Colonist International Gorge Waterway Swim Event
Plants, Species, Watershed Planning, Fish & Wildlife, Tress , Shrubs
Education Program Water Quality
The Veins of Life Watershed Society began in 1994 as a father, John and son, Wesley cleanup effort on the Gorge waterway in Victoria, BC. The debris removal campaign quickly gained momentum, and in 1996 a core group of active and interested volunteers registered VOLWS as a nonprofit society.
The Veins of Life Watershed Society (VOLWS) is a community-based environmental organization operating in the Salish Sea which includes parts of Vancouver Island, BC.
VOLWS focuses on a watershed-based approach, and initiates habitat restoration projects, shoreline & stream garbage removal, environmental education programs and public outreach activities.
The goal of VOLWS is to establish a healthy and sustainable environment in which watersheds support fish and wildlife, and recreational use. Goals are achieved through consultation and cooperation with government agencies, businesses, local environmental groups and the public.
Where did the name Veins of Life Watershed Society come from? When the discussion about the formation of a non-profit was being bantered about the discussion of a name came about. My Daughter, Tracy was looking at a Boucher published by , at that time MELP ( Ministry of the Environment BC ) in the right side of the publication was the above picture ( excuse the quality ). The picture shows the area of BC now called The Salish Sea, the red lines throughout the drawing indicate the lost salmon producing streams on the east side of Vancouver Island, and the West Coast of British Columbia. My Daughter said if you looked at the drawing it looks like the arm of a man and the red lines look like blood veins, and the name of the organization was born Veins of Life Watershed Society.
RE-INVENTING
RAINWATER
MANAGEMENT:
A STRATEGY TO PROTECT HEALTH
AND RESTORE NATURE IN THE CAPITAL REGION
By Gordon McGuire with Neil Wyper, Michelle Chan,
Adam Campbell, Scott Bernstein and Jill Vivian.
Supervised by Professors Deborah Curran and Calvin Sandborn
Editing and Layout by Holly Pattison
Acknowledgments
We appreciate the helpful comments and information received from a number of people, including Richard Boase; Eric Bonham, PEng; Mike Blum; Steve Bottheim; Oliver Brandes, LLB; Robert Bridgeman; Councillor Judy Brownoff; Ian Bruce; Councillor Vic Derman; Tanis Gower; Karen Hurley; Ian Graeme; Dale Green; Curtis Hinman; Grant Keddie, Curator of Archaeology; Patrick Lucey; Dr. Elaine MacDonald; Professor Maxine Matilpi; John O’Riordan, PhD; John Roe; Susan Rutherford, LLB; Bill Snodgrass; Kim Stephens, PEng, Dr. Richard Stanwick; Lise Townsend; Dan Vizzini; Jody Watson; and Bruce Wulkan. All errors are our own.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
When it rains in the Capital Region, water sweeps over roofs, streets and parking lots, picking up a multitude of pollutants on the urban landscape. Then storm sewers convey that tainted water at high speed and volume into sensitive water bodies.
This stormwater runoff is our biggest water pollution challenge. Indeed, most toxic chemicals entering local waterways likely come from runoff. Runoff also periodically delivers fecal contaminants to waterways, leading to public health advisories. The following report describes exactly how runoff carries toxins and fecal material into waterways -- and documents the public health and environmental concerns.
Stormwater has helped destroy our once-abundant salmon streams. Its high velocity erodes stream banks, silts water, and raises water temperature, destroying salmon habitat. And toxins in runoff kill fish. This report documents the history of how local salmon streams have been devastated. It also recounts poignant stories of how stormwater thwarts the efforts of volunteers trying to restore local salmon streams. Runoff is the biggest obstacle to restoring those streams.
Runoff has also been documented as the chief source of PCB contamination in orcas -- one of the main threats to survival of that endangered species. The report describes the latest scientific studies that draw the link between local storm gutters and survival of this region’s most majestic animal.
Polluted runoff is a major reason why the Capital Region’s bountiful shellfish beds are closed to harvest. The report cites numerous government studies that link runoff to such closures – and that identify runoff as a problem that we can and must solve, if we want to harvest local shellfish again.
The report also explains how current stormwater management wastes water, which may eventually necessitate costly expansion of water supply infrastructure.
All the above problems are the legacy of our obsolete 19th century stormwater management system – a system that fails to respect natural systems and water cycles. However, in recent years rainwater management practices have been developed that make the 21st century Green City possible – a city that designs rainwater management in concert with natural systems, not at cross purposes.
Traditional stormwater management broke the natural water cycle. It viewed stormwater as a site-specific problem, solved by rapidly piping water away from properties – and converting streams at the end of the pipe into drainage ditches. In contrast, modern rainwater management looks at the dynamics of the entire watershed, and identifies how development can use “green infrastructure” to maintain natural systems and protect buildings. Instead of relying heavily on pipes and concrete, it works to restore the function of trees, soil and open space that provide natural absorption, storage, evaporation and filtration services. Typically, this Low Impact Development approach mimics the natural water cycle -- by allowing water to infiltrate down through the soil and slowly release into the watershed.
The report documents how green rainwater management has now been adopted by engineers, developers, planners and governments across North America. The report also demonstrates that these Low Impact Development techniques are not only environmentally superior, they are often cheaper. In addition, they can provide incalculable benefits in the form of enhanced urban green space, as well as improved urban aesthetics and recreational opportunities.
The report describes a number of notable innovative projects in the Capital Region, and elsewhere. It then makes its first recommendation: that local governments reform policies and legislation – and work with partners -- to ensure implementation of Low Impact Development across the landscape.
A second major recommendation deals with the aging infrastructure that allows sanitary sewage releases from local stormwater outlets. The report argues that our system of financing infrastructure through property taxes is the reason why essential infrastructure has been neglected for over a century. Therefore, it calls on local governments to follow the lead of many North American cities, and shift the financing of drainage services from property taxes to a “user-pay” utility charge, with fees based on actual use. Just as citizens pay to have water piped to their houses, they would pay to have it piped away. The utility charge can be linked to an equivalent reduction in property taxes.
Such a measure not only provides dedicated funding for essential infrastructure. It also encourages residents to implement simple “Low Impact Development” techniques on their property in order to reduce their utility charge. Fortuitously, when residents do that, it reduces the community’s need for expensive new infrastructure.
The Report recommends the implementation and enforcement of the CRD Model Storm Sewer and Watercourse Protection Bylaw across the entire Capital Region, a model which has yet to be fully adopted by most municipalities.
Next, the report recommends the formation of a Capital Regional District Rainwater Commission to undertake an integrated watershed management approach for managing rainwater across the region. A Regional Commission is necessary to overcome the main barrier to rational rainwater management – the fragmented jurisdiction over runoff in our region.
The problem is that storm sewers are separately owned and regulated by each individual municipality. However, modern rainwater planning requires a watershed-wide approach – and local watersheds often include more than one municipality. Single municipalities lack legal capacity and resources to carry out the necessary watershed planning. A Regional Rainwater Commission could redress this.
The Report recommends that the new Commission create a long-term Regional Integrated Watershed Management Plan with a number of mandatory targets, including: the enactment of source pollution control regulations throughout the region; the elimination of stormwater discharges rated “high” for environmental concern or public health concern by 2015; the reduction of Victoria Harbour and Gorge runoff pollution, with the goal of making fish and shellfish there edible by 2035; and a firm deadline of 25 years for repairing pipes and infrastructure that allow sewage releases from storm sewers.
The Report recommends that the Commission work to ensure that local governments create a set of financial motivations for the private sector to implement LID; and that the Commission work with municipalities to implement LID practices in their own buildings and streets. The Report also calls for the restoration and enhancement of the currently-suspended monitoring program for stormwater runoff.
Finally, the Report recommends that the Commission launch an educational strategy for residents, developers, and others; provide resources and support to local stewardship groups to promote watershed protection and restoration; collaborate with community groups and educational institutes to conduct more extensive water quality monitoring; and publish a biennial “State of the Watershed” Report.
A number of other recommendations are made, including recommendations for senior government action to deal with stormwater and rainwater issues.
In sum, it is time for the Capital Regional District – in partnership with other governments and the private sector -- to implement a region-wide rainwater management strategy. The rewards will be great.
If we act now, our grandchildren will benefit dramatically. They’ll be able to walk on beaches free of stormwater fecal contamination. From those clean beaches they’ll be able to spot the occasional orca, still wild in the Straits. They will walk along the banks of local urban streams, awed by the magic of restored salmon runs. They will harvest shellfish from long-closed shellfish beds. They will hike in remote watersheds that might otherwise have been dammed.
We can do all of this – but first the leaders of the Capital Regional District must take action and establish a rainwater management strategy. Below we propose such a strategy.
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Above is the Gorge Waterway Watershed Victoria, BC , this area encompasses Victoria Harbour starting at Ogden Point, Inner Victoria Harbour, Selkirk Waters, Gorge Waterway, Portage Inlet, Craigflower Creek, Colquitz Creek and several tributaries. Our Watershed is shared with the SongHees Nation,Esquimalt Nation, City of Victoria, Township of Esquimalt, Town of View Royal, District of Saanich, District of Langford, District of Highlands, District of Central Saanich, and City of Colwood.
The population of the watershed is approximately 350, 000. The area is a mix of commercial heavy and light, farming industrial and light, shopping center's, and residential.
You will probably notice from this satellite picture that like everywhere else in North America we have managed to cut down our trees and pave it all over, and we ask our selves why is there no salmon, where did all the birds go?
Your government will tell you it's economics, how do they define economics, well bulldoze the trees, level the hills and we will prosper.
The Marine Mammal Monitoring Program (M3) started 1999, in partnership with Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, promotes stewardship of marine mammals, birds and critical habitat by providing an outreach, education and monitoring program for recreational and commercial eco-tourists in the waters surrounding the San Juan Islands and the southern Gulf Islands. Many marine species, such as whales, seals, and sea lions, inhabit this trans-boundary area also known as the Salish Sea.
Stewardship and outreach activities have focused on promoting improved guidelines for responsible whale watching. Through community outreach at local events, boat shows and the distribution of an information brochure, Be Whale Wise, M3 is promoting responsible marine mammals viewing, especially for whales. While operating a stewardship patrol vessel in the trans-boundary waters M3 staff also provided information on marine mammals watching guidelines and advised boaters when undesirable behavior occurred. After on-the-water observations, M3 staff provided commercial companies with whale watching compliance reports.
REMEDIATION & PLANNING of VICTORIA HARBOUR, GORGE WATERWAY & PORTAGE INLET:
What do you want the Victoria Harbour, Gorge Waterway & Portage Inlet to look like in one hundred years. Should we now begin the process of creating an urban park for when our population crawls over one million people or more.?
Should we design an urban park along our shores, buying and removing existing housing over a period of years?
Climate change is very real, our oceans are rising, homes and land through out our watershed are already flooding, in less than one hundred years the Harbour and Gorge Waterway will increase in rise 1.3 meters on normal high tides, under the right conditions with the winter Pacific storm's, the Colquitz and Craigflower Creeks are all ready at their maximum flows, with no where to go. Waters will rise up too or exceeding 3 meters. Do we build dikes and further decimate what habitat we have left, or do we buy and tear down the existing developments and let nature take it's course. Over 1/2 of the existing homes and lands will be flooded, and rest assured those that lose their property and belonging's will be at the government coffers to bail them out, It's cheaper in the long run to buy them out and deal with it now in the next twenty or so years.
Should we have no go areas where birds and marine mammals have a rest and breeding areas where they are not disturbed.
Take a look at the shoreline along our Harbour and Gorge, the only place left natural is at the Point Ellice House, even today the remedy seems to be rip-rap with out any opportunity of natural propagation, insert the rock without soil, turn our Harbour and Gorge into one big culvert like the Frazer River and then pat yourselves on the back, plant some pretend trees, go home and enjoy your lives.
We as a community can build for the future, we just need to dream and just do it.
For those that are interested, we are following up on a project that the Veins of Life Watershed Society and The Gorge Waterway Society initiated in 1996. At that time we filmed and surveyed the entire shoreline in the Municipality of Victoria, Esquimalt, View Royal and Sannich. This was to establish a base line of changes along our Waterway, at that time because of the success of the community projects the Gorge Watershed became popular again, since then a number of illegal modifications to shoreline and docks where added without the proper permits from the various levels of Governments.
It is our intent to continue to seek enforcement of our regulations, those that have gone through our community process, have done the proper science and obtained all the permits necessary, have our whole hearted support and a thank you. Those that did not get the necessary permits & violated the law will be publicly identified and reported, using an established Gorge Waterway Protection Fund, you will be prosecuted.
Interesting report commissioned by the Gorge Waterway Action Society in 1994 at lot of the work done by the VOLWS was first developed from the ideas and wishes expressed in this report, it's a good read, what is written is applicable today nothing gained, just got worse.
1) Your Riparian Rights In BC 2009 Riparian Rights and Public Foreshore Use in the Administration of Aquatic Crown Land