In August 2023 Walley Creek Streamkeepers joined other groups in a tire wear toxin monitoring program run by BCCF in collaboration with VIU.  You can read all about it here.  We sample before, during, and after rain events to look for presence of a short-lived compound found in road runoff that's lethal to Coho.

All results of this monitoring program can be found on the BCCF interactive database. 

In 2023 we sampled Walley Creek at two locations - Morningside Park and the RDN GNPCC. Both locations showed between 3 - 11 ng/L of 6-PPDQ.  and 6-PPDQ was found more often at the upper of the two sites, where Walley Creek flows past the GNPCC.
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In August 2024 we looked at the storm drain inputs for Walley and decided to add a site just downstream from where two storm drain outfalls enter Walley Creek, behind Pipers Pub.   We'll stop monitoring in Morningside Park, since there's no new storm water input below Shores Drive.  The upper site is near a large piece of property that will soon be developed into housing.  Monitoring behind Piper's Pub will allow us to see how the development impacts the creek.  

In 2019 we witnessed Walley Creek go dry (subsurface) at the Shores Drive bridge.  Losing water in a creek that supports so much life was heartbreaking, and we reached out to Provincial hydrologists for help understanding what was going on.  While we suspected that upgrades to the RDN GNPCC had something to do with it, the experience made us want to better understand the hydrology of Walley Creek. 

In August 2019 Provincial hydrologist Neil Goeller installed a flume near the mouth of the creek, with permission from the landowner. Another flume was installed where Walley Creek flows past the GNPCC.  At both sites level loggers (transducers) and trail cameras were also installed.  During low flow we collected water level data using a ruler, and in high flows a Flow Tracker was used to measure discharge.  Data from the level logger (transducer) and photos were downloaded regularly.   

The trail cameras recorded what we'd observed, that when it rains the stream channel can go from empty to full in less than an hour.  The photos above are from the lower flow monitoring station on September 12, 2019, between 1:45 - 2:00pm.

During rain storms the flumes were quickly overwhelmed, making them ineffective at flow monitoring.  The lower flume was removed, and the upper one left in place to measure flow in drier seasons. 

During the summer of 2021 Walley Creek was often subsurface, with only isolated pools, from the GNPCC all the way down to Hammond Bay.  But then, a number of times we noticed a lot of water suddenly flowing, even when there had not been any rainfall in previous days/ hours.  We tracked it back to a storm water outfall on the GNPCC property.  We were told that the new digesters have a perimeter drain – could these be affecting the creek's base flows during the summer?  Where does ground water from around the GNPCC go, if not into the creek?

​For complicated reasons, the data that has been collected since 2019 isn't useful in establishing a flow rating curve.   Neil explained in 2020 that the Flow Tracker measurements had a percent Q close to 10% in some panels, when it should ideally be <5%.  Also, there was a high standard of error for velocity, which can be a function of turbulence.  He suggested moving the monitoring station slightly upstream to a flatter location, and making sure the flow isn't impeded by our feet, or branches or debris, to get more accurate measurements. 

In August 2023, we were welcomed into the BCCF Flo Mo, or flow monitoring network. This summer (August 2024), BCCF and Provincial hydrologists supported us to install a new flow monitoring station slightly upstream of the old one.  The BCCF also offered to help apply for funding to purchase a Flow Tracker so that our group and others can take the required minimum 6 flow measurements a year.  Right now we're sharing a Flow Tracker on loan from the Province with several other groups.  We'll continue to download the transducer data and trail camera photos, as well as take flow measurements.  BCCF has created data sheets to formalize what happens at each site visit, and we'll get a Provincial hydrometric station number.​

We're hopeful going forward that this relationship with BCCF will bring our data up to Resources Information Standards Committee (RISC) grade "C" standards and allow us to have an accurate understanding of the flows on Walley Creek.  We want to understand what consistent flows look like, what the expected peak flows are, and in what conditions the creek ceases to flow continuously. 
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Walley Creek has been drained, moved, and channeled. It experiences illegal dumping, competition from invasive plants, and toxic road runoff, and it's still so beautiful and supports rich biodiversity.  Understanding high and low flows on this creek will be key to our efforts to mitigate anthropogenic effects and enhance the health of the watershed.

The Walley Creek Streamkeepers were understandably worried in August 2021 when we heard that the property beside Pipers Pub (4670 Hammond Bay Rd.) was was for sale. Our group formed when a similar high density subdivision on Hammond Bay Road was granted a development permit within the watercourse protection area.  We've since heard that those homes have problems with flooded basements during rain storms, despite sump pumps moving water out.

The property beside Piper's Pub contains two important wetlands associated with Walley Creek, which manage flow and filter the water as it flows downstream.  For development near wetlands a 15m setback is the default, and the Development Permit Area guidelines outline more details on what is required on specific sites.  You can read the City of Nanaimo's description of their watercourse protection here.  

In February 2023, when the property sold, we streamkeepers wrote a letter to Mayor and Council on behalf of our group, and encouraged concerned neighbors who contacted us to do the same. 

A development permit for 4670 Hammond Bay Rd. was approved by City Council on July 8, 2024.  To see it, go to What's Building in My Neighborhood, and type 4670 as the address and Hammond Bay into the next drop-down box.  Make sure the "show inactive" box is ticked above, then click on the S that comes up on the map..   Two pages of the permit are included below for reference.  To our great relief, the developer is not planning to create any road access to Hammond Bay through the wetland or across the creek. Also, the wetland areas have been protected as parks, and the riparian area boundary is being respected.   What a difference from the last development in our watershed, and an important step to protecting all the plants and animals that thrive in this healthy ecosystem!

To date, our work removing invasive species has been focused on
reach 1 (from the beach at Nina's up to Morningside Drive) and
reach 2 (Morningside Park, between Morningside Drive and Shores Drive). 
Today we made our first foray into reach 3,
where the creek flows through the RDN GNPCC property. 
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The mouth of the culvert upstream of Shores Drive is completely overgrown with invasive Himalayan blackberry, as most disturbed, sunny spots are.  We used loppers and pickaxes to chop down the canes and dig out the roots, filling a large bin and opening up the space.  The plan is to mulch heavily with wood chips and plant quick-growing successional species - red osier dogwood and big leaf maple, followed by later succession species like Cedar and fir, either seeded from local species or planted intentionally.

As we reflect on 7 (!) years of restoration work in Walley Creek,
we are looking at priorities for the year ahead.  

When we began to work on restoration, our primary goal was to understand the creek, its past and current threats and places where it's thriving, and how humans can live more gently with this beautiful watercourse, and even enhance its health and ecological function.  Much of our efforts have been focused on salmon, since they are such an important keystone species and receive the bulk of funding and expertise in the stream restoration world.  However, we know that Walley Creek may never support a large population of Coho, and setting that as a goal may be ignoring the overall wetland and swamp characteristics of this watershed.

We do know that Walley Creek supported resident cutthroat trout, from surveys done as part of the 1994 Fish Habitat Assessment, pg. 11 and 12 and the 1995 Nanaimo Urban Stream Enhancement Study, pg. 27 (see Resources).  ​In the future, we're hoping to work with the Province on better understanding  cutthroat trout populations in Walley Creek.  These resident species of salmonid are also threatened or endangered in BC streams.  When we did our initial stream survey in 2016/2017, we found many trout as we poked around undercut banks.  When the creek experienced a disastrous dry spell in 2019, we worried many of the resident cutthroat died.   NALT staff and biologists hope to do electrofishing or pit tagging surveys to estimate present cutthroat populations.

Walley Creek (and all urban streams) experiences extremely high flows during rain events, and times in the dry season when the stream goes subsurface.  These situations are very challenging for fish.  They must find refuge in side channels during high flow events, and find pools that are cold and oxygenated enough for them to survive low and no-flow times.  
In addition, all life in the creek suffers during periods of drought.  Going forward we hope to retain water through rain gardens, swales, and increasing the pervious area in the watershed.  We also hope to learn from work MVIHES has done on Shelly Creek in Parksville that engaged hydrogeologists in creating a water balance model.  A similar tool for Walley Creek would help us mitigate high flows and support the continuous base flows that have characterized this creek from the beginning.

So, in 2024 our priorities will be ongoing flow monitoring with support from Provincial hydrologists and the BCCF flo-mo network,
and water quality monitoring - RDN CWMN and BCCF 6-PPDQ testing. 
We will also continue to engage youth and community members in environmental stewardship through invasive removal and riparian protection and revegetation, in Morningside Park with Ecole Hammond Bay students, and with SD68 staff, students and families at the very top of the watershed, where Walley Creek passes Frank J. Ney school.

On this gorgeous fall day we set out once again to prevent the bank from eroding where Walley Creek flows behind private residences between Hammond Bay Road and Ecole Hammond Bay. 

We wonder if this problem was caused by the creek being moved?  There is a natural seep that flows from a different direction, past the tennis courts and through the salamander meadow.  The erosion is exacerbated by yard waste being thrown over the fence, though all but one neighbor has cleaned up their act.

In any case, our goal is healthy fish habitat, and keeping the creek from filling up with silt and soil if there are debris jams and high flows.  This design was suggested by Lindsey Haist of Alder Environmental, and it's been very successful so far.  Today we reinforced "benches" built in previous years, installed new ones, and planted sword fern and dull Oregon grape, hoping their roots will take hold.

We had a strong crew of family (Nina's husband, children and grandchildren, and Linda's husband and children), dedicated volunteers, and recent VIU grads to pull this off in a couple of hours.  We were so grateful for a delivery of healthy plants from Streamside to restore the biodiversity of this area.   The project was completed with support from the City of Nanaimo Community Watershed Restoration grant, project management and volunteer coordination in partnership with the Nanaimo & Area Land Trust, of which Walley Creek Streamkeepers is a committee.

There happened to be an interpretive tour of the salamander monitoring project in this area led by Elke Wind at the same time that we were working!  The group found three dead naked mole rats, that could have been victims of rat poison??  We also encountered some very angry wasps, who are cranky during this fall season and took it out on a couple of volunteers, ouch!

We've been collecting measurements of Walley Creek flow since August 2019, when we saw the creek go completely dry for the first time in known history.  We're working with the BCCF Flow Monitoring Network (Flo Mo) to get our data up to "grade C"  as far as Resources Information Standards Committee (RISC) standards.  This will involve continuing to use the Flowtracker at least 6 times/year during high flow,  continuing to collect level logger measurements at least 4 times/year, and using flumes as well as photographic evidence during low flow or dry events.

The Standard Operating Procedures Manual and data sheets are available on the resources section of the BCCF Community Flow Monitoring Network website.

Collecting data is a very technical process, involving expensive equipment that is often shared between organizations and doesn't always work the way it's supposed to.  Interpreting the data involves comparing the measurements against rainfall amount, barometric pressure, and creek size/shape.  Then there's the challenge of reflecting on the information in a way that's meaningful to the people who want to understand it for decision making.

As NALT staff continue to collect flow measurements on Walley Creek, we'll work towards maintaining the flume at the RDN GNPCC.   The BCCF is supporting us to add a Flo Mo monitoring station in 2024.  We really want to know and understand the flows on Walley Creek.  At its lowest flow there are sections that go subsurface just above Shores Drive, while on October 18, 2023 we recorded 130 L/second in Reach 1.  Its highest flow was taken November 15, 2021 at 300L/second!!  Our goal is to work with City storm water managers to mitigate impacts on fish and other life in and around Walley Creek.

August 2022 - the whole summer was more or less at this level, with a few surges from summer rain

August 2023 - because of very low rainfall spring and summer 2023 there was no surface water in Walley Creek where it's been diverted to flow through a liner on the GNPCC property.

We have initiated a project with Frank J Ney school (upper reaches of Walley Creek) that would take place over three or more years, where we'd invite students and families of the elementary school to get involved with invasive species removal and finding a balance between children accessing the area for exploration and learning while encouraging ecological health. 

Module 8 of the Streamkeepers handbook is all about preventing domestic animals from having unlimited access to the stream.  We sometimes joking refer to the children that play in the riparian area as livestock, but the truth is they can have a very serious negative impact on the plant community by unknowingly trampling everything while engaged in their busy imaginative and construction play.

One teacher had the brilliant idea of telling the children that it hurts the trees when their "toes" (exposed roots) get stepped on.  After a year of reminding the children, there are now ferns and salmonberry bushes growing up in between the trees "toes" in this place between the school and the creek.

An important goal of our Streamkeepers group is providing opportunities for young people and their families to connect to nature, and enjoy the mental health benefits of time outdoors, especially in creative or community-minded endeavors.  While we want to limit the children's access to the streambed (to protect aquatic invertebrates, salamanders, frogs, and fish) we want them to KNOW this place and learn with and from its seasonal cycles.   We look forward to beginning this project with the school, as a learning opportunity, community building endeavor, and ecological restoration project.

aerial photo of Frank J Ney Elementary and adjacent green space

A tree came down across the creek several weeks ago, taking down the top of another tree and  leaving a big mess in its wake.  Unfortunately the branches and tree trunk squashed many of the plants from our fall planting project!
A small group of hardworking volunteers worked to remove the branches, leaving a log which will provide shade and hopefully stabilize the bank.
There are many trees remaining in this narrow corridor that are dead or dying.   
​This area continues to struggle from drought, and erosion in the riparian area.

Our group has a nice rhythm of spring/summer invasive removal and fall planting.  This has the goal of increasing biodiversity, stabilizing the stream banks to prevent erosion, and restoring the plant communities that were here pre-disturbance.

We are learning that it's not as simple as putting plants in the ground.  Despite best efforts at placement,  some plants get trampled, browsed by deer, suffer from summer drought, or don't make it for unknown reasons.  We've learned that ferns and Oregon grape are nearly indestructible, though they haven't survived well on the steep slope stabilization projects. 

The key seems to be considering which plants need "wet feet" - salmon berry and Cedar, for example, and which ones can tolerate drier conditions  - snow berry and pine.  Then adding lots and lots of bark mulch and wood chips to hold onto moisture and nutrients in our dry summers.   

Even still, not all the plants survive.  We keep planting densely, using chicken wire and Plantskydd to deter the deer, and repeating planting as we assess what's surviving. 
It makes us grateful for the established trees that are there, and appreciate the truth in the saying, "The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.  The second best time is now."