The Friends of Bowker Creek Society’s 1000 Rain Gardens Project
Date
2025
Authors
Cabling, Ludwig Paul B.
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Abstract
The Bowker Creek Watershed is 1028 hectares (10.28 km2) and is home to approximately 30,000 people. The creek’s headwater flows from the University of Victoria’s wetland area near the University Club, through Saanich and Victoria and drains into the ocean at Oak Bay2.
The Bowker Creek Initiative (BCI)3 was established in 2004 as a partnership between community, local government, and institutions with the aim to “protect and enhance the ecological, social and economic health of the Bowker Creek Watershed.” The Bowker Creek Blueprint published in 2012 outlined a detailed 100-year plan to revitalize the Bowker Creek Watershed . The plan is currently being updated (2025), and will be re-published following public feedback.
The Friends of Bowker Creek Society (FoBCS) supports the restoration and enhancement of Bowker Creek and its watershed to a healthy state, guided by the vision and goals of the Bowker Creek Blueprint. Among the range of initiatives, from the chum salmon recovery project4, to the restoration and daylighting of the creek, FoBCS is leading the 1000 Rain Gardens Project to increase awareness of rain gardens as a tool to reduce excess stormwater flows and pollutants into the Bowker Creek Watershed.
Rain gardens are a landscape feature that can retain or store stormwater runoff, allowing it to soak into the ground rather than flow into storm drains (Figure 1). Rain gardens can be as simple as a lawn or cluster of rocks receiving runoff from a roof downspout that has been disconnected from a house perimeter drain, or it can be an ecosystem full of varied plants, insects and other animals. Rain gardens enable rainwater to slowly infiltrate or enter the ground, reducing the amount of rainwater entering storm drains and reducing peak flows in local waterways.
The 1000 Rain Gardens Project aims to help our communities improve rainwater management by building rain gardens in the Bowker Creek Watershed. FoBCS has partnered with Peninsula Streams and Shorelines (PSS) and their Rain Gardens for Headwaters Program to build rain gardens through the capital region. Alongside PSS, there have been rain garden demonstration sites constructed at three local schools, engaging students, faculty, and the community at large to participate and learn about green infrastructure such as rain gardens. The demonstration sites at Campus View Elementary, Monterey Middle School, and Oak Bay High School will be examined in this Sustainability Scholar report to develop recommendations for FoBCS’ 1000 Rain Gardens Project.
Description
2025 UVic Sustainability Scholars Program Final Report
Keywords
Bowker Creek, watershed, rain gardens, stormwater runoff, wetland, Sustainability Scholars Program