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Bowker Creek not top environmental priority for Victoria

Lack of open state of waterway in city limits renders it lower concern, staff write

Victoria will work with Saanich and Oak Bay to see if the three municpalities can craft joint development permit guidelines for the Bowker Creek watershed.

It's a move Victoria staff recommended against, mostly because the creek has no open channel within city boundaries, unlike in Saanich and Oak Bay. That means Victoria's only concerns in this area relate to stormwater management.

"Other shoreline and land-based areas have been identified … as having higher priorities for consideration as environmental development permit areas," a staff report stated.

Victoria council, however, feel the idea is worth exploring and are considering funding a pilot project at Doncaster Road and Hillside Avenue to daylight that section of Bowker Creek.

On Sept. 22, 2011, city council endorsed the Bowker Creek Blueprint, a 100-year plan to restore the watershed.