SSI FreshWater Catalogue

SSI, NORTH Watersheds

"1983" (Cupples Creek?) Watershed "Notes"

- Jack Forester Trail area -

Last Update, 2023/08/04

SSI North Area - overview watersheds (colour coded, CRD, 2018) & watershed note areas

North Island, "1983" Watershed

From our ongoing North Island, Freshwater Cataloguing - notes on the "1983" watershed area. Cf. the SSI FWC webmap for field locations and charted information (where available).

The content of these "Notes" entries is dependant on the information that is currently available, from FWC volunteer work, FWC reporting or from other sources. We need volunteers in this area.

Note - if you have additional insights into this area (the watershed, it's creeks or wetlands), can help with site(s) access, or are interested in being involved in data collection for this project area, please contact the SSIFWC Project Lead.

For now these notes draw heavily on extracts from our monthly FWC "Which Creek Is It" Competition, from our Salt Spring Island FreshWater Catalogue Watershed Stewardship Group Facebook page, with "field note" addendums where additional information has become available. Additional volunteer resources will enable us to do more!

General Watershed & FWC Creek Information:

The May 2019 WCIT competition creek was Creek-to-be-named XI (Cupples Creek), located in the beautiful and compact 1983 watershed; a great school “the water-cycle" teaching area. The June 2023 WCIT competition creek was again in that 1983 (Cupples Creek) watershed, in the upstream part of this Cupples creek-system. 1983 is a rural and partly residential watershed area, a great and accessible freshwater and environmental study area. The 1983 coastal creek outfall is located in the North Island, Trincomali Channel.

Local watershed area maps and creek/wetland images

"1983" Watershed & Creeks

The 1983 coastal creek outfall is located in a small, tidally influenced, estuary with (brackish) coastal wetlands. At the watershed outfall Creek-to-be-named XI, or Cupples Creek, is one of a several creeks supporting 1983 watershed surface flow, freshwater and forest ecosystems, with a single watershed flow outlet - discharge to the sea. The creek systems in this watershed have been heavily modified for agricultural drainage and/or for freshwater supplies. FWC reconnaissance field work suggests that the 1983 watershed creek systems, contributing to overall watershed discharge to sea, may be more complex than was mapped in 2014 (Cf. Manley & Stewardson, 1984).

The 1983 Creek watershed is one of the smaller on the island (but not the smallest), The watershed is some 160.4 hectares (396.3 acres) in size, down there with “Old Lowther Creek” and “Walkers Brook” (previous WCIT entries) in terms of watershed size. The 1983 Creek is significantly less developed than some of its counterparts. It's compact size, watershed ecosystems richness and accessibility make it a special place - a candidate for a “best, compact watershed on the island” competition?
The 1983 watershed contains all the “classic” elements of a SSI watershed ecosystem with easy-to-see watershed catchment boundaries (the uplands source area), forest, wetlands , freshwater creek(s) and a brackish water creek outfall discharging into a small estuary with creek modified tidal/offshore bars, etc etc. All in a small and self-contained watershed-marine area, accessible during a “short walk to the coast”
The 1983 watershed receives something like 1,523,800,000 litres (335,189,000 gallons) of rainfall (precipitation, or surface water) per annum (water volumes are approximate with no consideration of surface/terrain conditions, nor rainfall variability within the catchment area)
There is no known surface (or subsurface) water district abstracting water from the 1983 watershed and a smallish number of wells (<40). Known freshwater licences for the 1983 might be available here: http://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/wtrwhse/water_licences.input by entering a “stream name”. However, the linked BC water licences report treats all of SSI as a single watershed, so it is not possible to “pull” all freshwater licences in the “1983" watershed.

Historical & Other Watershed Insights:

Cupples Creek, Cupples Creek East and the related 1983 related wetlands were provisionally mapped and reported on during 2014 island-wide Riparian Areas Regulation Mapping Project. Cupples Creek Riparian area mapping indicated two tributaries, one wetland with beaver activity, two ponds and three short ditch sections; Cupples Creek East mapping included the mainstream and one pond (Manley & Stewardson, 2014).

In 2022 a new 1983 watershed area Cupples Creek, Trail and Nature club trail was established. Within this compact and beautiful watershed area, this trail gives access to the wetlands bordering the Salt Spring Conservancy North View Nature Reserve, unfortunately the two areas remain separate.

Note - any other local insights, or interested in contributing to the historical/other notes on our islands' watersheds, please contact the SSIFWC Project Lead.

FWC "Citizen Science" Watershed Notes - Reporting:

We have tiny amount of SSIFWC data collection within Creek-to-be-named XI (Cupples Creek), some collected by “Team Fernwood”, during a Fernwood school trip to the area. More local data collection would give improved insights into the impact of a large "uplands" area wetland area (including the North View Nature Reserve) on the watershed’s freshwater ecosystems, and into an improved understanding of how this surface water catchment in the watershed contributes to aquifer recharge (and local discharge!) in this drought-prone island area…

1983 is a good candidate for gathering data for a “ground-truthed” groundwater recharge potential (watershed recharge efficiency) model for one of our island’s smaller, more rural watersheds.

FWC Images and Videos:

1983 (Cupples Creek?) Watershed FWC field images. Note - all FreshWater Catalogue images & videos copywrite belongs with the WPS and the FWC. We are grateful for due acknowledgement of copywrite in any use or publication of these educational resources.

Other Local Area Resources:

Manley, D., & Stewardson, M., 2014., Salt Spring Island Riparian Areas Regulation Mapping Project. Mainstream Biological Consulting, sponsored by IT.
Klassen, J. & Allen, D. M. 2016., Risk of Saltwater Intrusion in Coastal Bedrock Aquifers: Gulf Islands, BC.

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