NALT is spearheading a cutthroat trout monitoring project with several local streamkeepers groups, including Walley Creek streamkeepers.  They've received permits from the Province and DFO, so we are ready to go ahead with selecting monitoring sites and becoming trained to do this work. 

We'll use an app called Survey 123 to record

• Date​
• Time
• Stream Name
• Watershed Name
• Current weather
• Site ID (automatic as you will select your site from a map)
• GPS Location
• Photo
• Surveyors first and last names
• Weather during sample period
• Time/ date when you set trap out
• Time/ date When trap retrieved
• Bait type
• Fish captured – Y/N
• species
  • CTT
  • Rainbow
  • Coho
  • Stickleback
  • Sculpin
  • Other
• # per species
• Fork length (mm) for all
• Photos of all salmonids (clear, in-focus, taken in the viewer)
• Notes/comments

The software will then map the data so that it can be compared between streams and over time. 

​The goal is to determine if there are cutthroat trout in Nanaimo streams, and if so, where are they?  We'll be strategic about sampling where there's an increased likelihood of finding cutthroat.   We plan to continue sampling for at least 2 years, and possibly for as long as 5 years.  We may need to move the traps up or downstream, depending on what we catch, and water levels.  Interestingly, Pete Law did some pit tagging of cutthroat on a small stream in BC, and of the 50 fish they followed, all but 2 stayed within a 10-20m area of the creek over the year of the study.

It's important to note that we're not estimating total population, but recording presence/absence and comparing our results over the years that data is collected.  

A local newspaper covered the story here: https://www.nanaimobulletin.com/local-news/coastal-cutthroat-trout-project-examining-nanaimos-trout-population-7564784

*We're sad to report that as of February 2025, none of the trout traps in Walley Creek have found any cutthroat, only sticklebacks.  It's likely that the loss of surface water in the creek above Shores Drive during the dry summers has had a catastrophic effect on their population.  The pool habitat has become too isolated and the loss of water is too sudden for the fish to find refuge.  
​See our earlier post "Are there any fish in Walley Creek?" (June 2020)

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.