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.  

Our group was formed when each of us independently contacted the Nanaimo & Area Land Trust wondering if any work was being done to steward Walley Creek in North Nanaimo.  One of our members lives right where Walley Creek reaches the ocean in Hammond Bay; for decades she has watched and tended the stream, concerned by garbage washing downstream and the lack of care for the riparian integrity.  The Executive Director of NALT, Gail Adrienne put us in contact, and we started by asking our local Fisheries and Oceans Community Advisor to help us.  Biologist Dave Clough spent time with us walking the upper watershed, near Springfield Place, and the lowest part of Walley Creek, where it empties into Hammond Bay near Morningside Drive.

We came up with a long list of priorities for further research and restoration activities, including:

• create a Master Plan that documents ecological and recreational values that can stand up to future development proposals
• research the City of Nanaimo plans for park land acquisition in the watershed
• develop a better understanding of how the City of Nanaimo uses Riparian Areas Regulation to manage urban streams
• establish priorities for restoration activities
• survey and map the upper watershed area; would a rain garden improve year round flow and improve water quality?