Restoring the Chrystal Creek watershed

District Lot 57, which would become the Millard Learning Centre, was pre-empted in the late 1800s by European settlers.  By the 1930s, when the first aerial photos were taken, a large homestead had been established and fields had been cleared for agriculture and pasture.

When the Galiano Conservancy acquired the property in 2012, we inherited a complicated network of old logging roads, ditches, fence-lines, and structures cutting across the Chrystal Creek watershed.  The landscape had been cleared and simplified, with a dominant cover of aggressive introduced agronomic grasses and weeds.  The original creeks had been diverted into ditches, and rainfall was quickly siphoned off the land and down into Chrystal cove.

Despite the degraded state of ecosystems throughout the Chrystal Creek watershed, there were signs that recovery is always a possibility.  Poorly-drained, flooded areas provided clues as to where historical wetland ecosystems may have occurred prior to being converted for agriculture.  Lone western redcedar | X’pey (Thuja plicata) trees persisted on raised mounds of woody debris.

To restore wetland ecosystems, we knew we needed to put together a team of experts and knowledge holders.  Wetland restoration expert Robin Annschild (of Rewilding Water & Earth Inc.) joined the project early, along with biologist and former GCA Executive Director Keith Erickson.  Penelakut Elders Karen and Richard Charlie graciously provide their insights, and excavator operator Stuart Callison provides a steady hand behind the wheel to artfully and expertly apply restoration treatments.

To restore degraded wetland ecosystems, we needed large amounts of coarse woody debris (CWD) to create habitat, retain moisture, cycle nutrients, build soils, and provide seed germination sites.  We were able to generate this material by thinning an adjacent plantation monoculture of Douglas-fir | Ts’sey’ (Pseudtotsuga menziesii) trees using Ken Millard’s purpose-built chain hoist system.

When the dust clears and the rains begin to fall, the wetland pools quickly fill and immediately provide habitat for a wide range of species.  Amphibians, including the Blue-listed northern red-legged frog (Rana aurora), begin breeding in wetland pools within six months.

Hundreds of students, community volunteers, and interns have contributed to restoring the Chrystal Creek watershed.  Volunteers groups and classes from UVic, UBC, SFU, BCIT, and the BCWF have all participated in the project.  Volunteers provide expertise, enthusiasm, and thousands of hours of volunteer labour.  Dozens of students have produced reports to inform ongoing restoration, monitoring, and interpretation activities.

This watershed-scale restoration program has been split into three distinct phases, corresponding to different branches of the watershed.  Primary restoration treatments have already been completed in the north and west branches of the watershed, and are ongoing in the south and east branches.  Overall, about 12 hectares are planned for treatment across the watershed.