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. 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. Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.
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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. Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document. 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! Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document. 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. While Walley Creek is open to the surface along its whole length, it is fed by storm drain inputs from the developed areas of the watershed, as well as groundwater seepage. To see a map of the storm drains in the Walley Creek Watershed, visit the interactive Nanaimo map - http://maps.nanaimo.ca/nanaimomap/. Click on Themes and choose Utilities. On the left side, check the box that says Storm. (The photo below is an example.) You can also turn on the air photos, and select different attributes that you want to see as you zoom in. Since 2019 our group has been dismayed see the creek go dry in the lower reaches (Shores Drive to the ocean) during the summer. We are desperately trying to sleuth out why this is happening, since we know it's fatal for the fish and invertebrates that depend on the creek being wet. In August and September 2019 and 2021, creek water has been present only in isolated pools in Reaches 1 and 2, if at all. There is one pipe just south of Shores Drive that we found during our (2016/2017) stream assessment that isn't on the City utilities map. Water used to trickle out of it that we assumed was groundwater because it was so cold (<12 degrees C). In fall 2018 we walked that area to plan for some restoration work and noticed it's not providing water to the creek anymore. We're wondering if that has something to do with why the creek is dry. In August 2021 we decided to walk the creek again from Morningside Park north, mapping storm drain inputs.
If you've lived in Nanaimo for a while, you'll notice that there is constant change. The desire to live in this beautiful place puts consistent development pressure on our land base. Over the last 50 years North Nanaimo has changed from the "boonies" to a sea of subdivisions. (If you want to read more about the History of Walley Creek click here.) Most urban creeks and streams have either been culverted and paved over, or treated as dumps for fill since they are less desirable areas for development. Fortunately, Walley Creek has not been paved over, but it suffers its share of degradation in areas that have not been protected as park land. Some of the factors motivating the protection of Walley Creek are - development encroaching into precious wetlands, and illegal dumping of yard waste in riparian areas. We want to protect this beautiful corridor for all the life it supports, and for the human health benefits of having access to nature. |
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