Society News for the Knowing Community

Oils spills have been occurring with

regularity in the Colquitz Watershed, many

from old and degraded home heating oil

tanks. These unfortunate incidents have,

however, helped shine the spotlight on the

state of the creek, and resulted in a lot of

interest in restoration. 2013 will see the

continuation of activities started in 2012.

We will continue to support the formation

of a ‘Friends of Swan Creek Watershed’

stewardship group, help develop a 5 year

restoration plan with this group and other

stakeholders, and undertake stream

restoration activities, including fish habitat

creation and riparian area

plantings/invasive species removal. There

has been overwhelming support from both

the community (our stewardship group

clocks in at over 60 members!) and funders

for this project, and we are looking forward

to much progress this year!

Swan/Blenkinsop Creeks

Volunteers planting native species alongside Swan Creek in Nov 2012

Our Annual General Meeting will be held from 3-5 pm on

Saturday February 16th 2013 at Greenglade Community Centre

(Room #8, 2151 Lannon Way, Sidney, BC V8L 3Z1).

Everyone welcome. Call 250-363-6480 or email

peninsulastreams@gmail.com for more information. Please RSVP.

p. 1

Welcome to the first edition of our newsletter for 2013! Some of the things on our plate in the coming

year…expansion of our education programs, Creatures of Habitat (Gr. 6) and Watershed/Salmon program (Gr. 3),

stewardship group support in Swan Creek watershed, and continuation of stream and riparian restoration on Hagan

Creek in Mt. Newton Valley. I encourage you to visit our website at www.PeninsulaStreams.ca for more content…and

we hope to see you out on the creek this year! – Francesca, Stewardship Coordinator

TenTen Creek

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Chalet CreekLast year was a busy one in the creek with the annual Deep Cove Elementary School education day and fish release, a

work party removing invasive English Ivy from trees near the creek mouth, a survey of Gardner's Pond by Stantec

environmental staff, trail-breaking at the west end of the pond and investigation of soil conditions. Ian gave advice on

the remediation of disturbed areas around Gardner's Pond and we planted grass materials to stabilize the soils.

Activities for this year include planning for the development of a trail and berm and installation of a flow control

system to control outflow from the pond. Water will be pumped during summer months from existing wells in the area

to supplement flow to keep the stream and its inhabitants healthy.

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ḰENNES/Hagan CreekWith the near completion of our three-year project on the

Waterhouse section of Hagan Creek in the Mount Newton Valley,

we have our sights set on the adjacent stretch of creek, which is

badly in need of reconstruction. This stretch of creek is on the

former Godfrey property and restoration would include

redeveloping floodplains, channel reconstruction, riparian area

dedication and planting, and rock and riffle/pool additions.

In July, sea-run cutthroat juveniles were captured in TenTen Creek: it appeared that these parr had been spawned in

February 2011 and survived the summer of 2011 and winter 2011-12 in the creek. These are the first reported sightings

of salmonids in TenTen Creek in over 60 years, in what many regarded as a stream too polluted to support fish. The

work planned for TenTen this year, in conjunction with the Victoria Airport Authority (VAA), includes finishing the

overflow channel of the Pendray Farms Wetland Mitigation Project started in 2000. As well, slope-stability

assessments and remediation of the East and West landfills on VAA property are expected to be undertaken.

Peninsula Streams Society Newsletter – Jan-Mar 2013

Reay CreekReay Creek had a very successful return of adult coho in the fall of 2012 with about 70 adults returning. Unfortunately,

6 Coho died trying to ascend the dam – temporary modifications were made in-season, with a permanent solution to be

developed/implemented this summer. River otters were also very active in culling the Coho, but evidence of many

“redds” dug leads to the expectation of good fry recruitment from 2012. Preliminary planning for the

restoration/excavation of Reay Creek Pond is under way with the Sidney Anglers Association and the Town of Sidney.

Submitted by Newton Hockey, Friends of Chalet Creek

Restoration/Salmon

“101”redd – the nest, covered by gravel, where a

salmon lays its eggs

parr – (pre-smolt) a juvenile fish that has bars or

stripes (called “parr marks”) on its sides and has

not yet developed scales

smolt – a fish that has developed scales and is

ready for migration from fresh to salt water

riffle – natural or man-made rock weir in the

creek between pools. Provides flow control and

water oxygenation.

riparian – the area next to a water body that is

influenced by the water body and/or influences

the water body

We continue to encourage the construction of a fishway over

Butchart Garden’s dam, and investigations are ongoing to evaluate

Tod Creek mainstem habitat quality. Biologist Lin Callow has been

working with DFO and Mary Haig-Brown (Friends of Tod Creek)

on this project, while Mary and the Friends have done a fantastic job

restoring Whitehead Park, in conjunction with Saanich Parks staff.

Tod Creek

• Become a Member. An annual individual membership is only $5, and entitles you to vote at our AGM. Proceeds

help offset our volunteer insurance costs.

• Volunteer with us. Many opportunities are available. Sign up on our

website or give us a call.

• Shop at Thrifty Foods and use our pre-programmed Smile Card. Thrifty

Foods donates 5% of your bill to our education programs and it doesn’t affect

your participation in the “Club Thrifty” program. Please remember us at the

till; it doesn’t cost you a penny to support us! If you would like a Smile Card,

please contact Francesca at 250.363.6480.

• Donate by cheque on our website through Canada Helps, a secure online donation system.

You can use the “Donate Now” button on the website to securely and electronically make

your donation. Tax receipts issued.

• Donate a product or service for our annual Silent Auction Fundraiser.

We continue to encourage the construction of a fishway over Butchart Garden’s dam, and investigations are ongoing to

evaluate Tod Creek mainstem habitat quality. Biologist Lin Callow has been working with DFO and Mary Haig-Brown

(Friends of Tod Creek) on this project, while Mary and the Friends have done a great job restoring Whitehead Park

(near Prospect Lake), in conjunction with Saanich Parks staff.

Tod Creek

We’d like to sing the

praises of Glenn

Davidson; as our

accountant, he prepares

our year-end reports,

while attending to his

already extremely busy

workload. A HUGE

thank you to Glenn for

his time and services

over the years!

Peninsula Streams Society Newsletter – Jan-Mar 2013 p. 3

In this issue we’d like to

recognize two sponsors:

Canoe Cove Marina for

their continuing support,

and BC Hydro for coming

on board this year to

support our Gr. 3 and Gr.

6 environmental education

programs!

Creatures of Habitat2013 marks the fifth year of our Gr. 6 environmental education program, which takes place around Earth Day in April.

This year we hope to expand the program to school(s) in SD61, in addition to the SD63 schools that we have worked in

for the past four years. We visit each school for a full day, and engage the students in an interactive “EnviroJeopardy”

theatre presentation, workshops, and outdoor restoration activities on/near their school grounds. These activities

include invasive plant species removal, planting and mulching, fry releases, and garbage pick-up. We will need lots of

volunteers to help us guide the students through the restoration activities, so if you are interested, please let Francesca

know and you’ll be added to our volunteer list….more details to come via email and our two websites

www.PeninsulaStreams.ca and www.CreaturesofHabitat.ca ~!

Thank you to our donors!

Governments

District of Central Saanich

District of North Saanich

Town of Sidney

District of Saanich

Province of B.C.

Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Foundations & Organizations

Dee M. Bailin Family Fund

Pacific Salmon Foundation

Sidney Anglers Association

Victoria Foundation

Alistair S. Thomson, Colonel R.O. Bull,

Oolichan, Woodsome Family Funds

Businesses

Alexander’s Coffee

Arbutus Grove Nursery

Canoe Cove Marina

Custom Yacht Sales Ltd.

Drillwell Enterprises Ltd.

LGL Ltd.

Lush Cosmetics

Market on Yates and Millstream

Michell Excavating

Peninsula Co-op

Peninsula Rock Products Ltd.

Red Barn Market

Rhys Davis Ltd.

Russel Nursery

Seahorses Café

Sherwood Marine Centre

Sidney Bottle Depot

Slegg Construction Materials Ltd.

Thrifty Foods - Smile Card Program

Vancity Savings Credit Union

Victoria Airport Authority

Westport Marina

Individuals

C & T Armour, F & P.Boyce, I.Bruce, P.Chandler,

J.Clearihue, D.Coupland, G.B.Davidson, B.Drury,

A.Finall, M.Garside, S.Guy, M.Haig-Brown, B.Hardy,

S. Irving, A.Johnson, P.Kerfoot, A.Marsh, C. Mearns,

A.Nelson, P.Noel, B.Peart, J. Thornburgh,

A.Waterhouse, R.Windsor

Which watershed do you live in?

Visit us online: www.PeninsulaStreams.ca

The Peninsula Streams Society newsletter is

published on a quarterly basis. Do you have

something to add to the newsletter? Submissions

are accepted on a continual basis, inclusion is subject to space

availability and content appropriateness. Please contact us at

peninsulastreams@gmail.com

p. 4Peninsula Streams Society Newsletter – Jan-Mar 2013

� Ian, Executive Coordinator 250-363-6596 | Francesca, Stewardship Coordinator 250-363-6480

@ PeninsulaStreams@gmail.com