Blenkinsop Creek

Blenkinsop Creek is the major tributary to Swan Lake, an urban lake surrounded by a nature sanctuary in the middle of the Municipality of Saanich. Blenkinsop Creek has been severely channelized by agriculture and urban development throughout the watershed and is the receiving water for urban storm drainage.  This first phase of this project restored approximately 700m of Upper Blenkinsop Creek by relocating and restructuring the channel, replanting native riparian vegetation and allowing the creek to access its natural floodplain. This project rejoined two fields that were previously divided by a ditch. This allowed Galey Bros. Farms to utilize a single irrigation system (instead of two separate systems) and to use one access road instead of two. This increased the area of land under cultivation by approximately 13%. By moving the creek alongside Lochside trail, were we able to take advantage of an existing vegetation buffer and create viewpoints from the trail. See the project photo gallery for photos of its construction and growth.