SSI, NORTH Watersheds
"8343" (golf course...) Watershed "Notes"
- Lower Ganges Road area -
Last Update, 2023/06/07
SSI North Area - overview watersheds (colour coded, CRD, 2018) & watershed note areas
North Island, "8343" Watershed
From our ongoing North Island, Freshwater Cataloguing - notes on the (unnamed) "8343" 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 (do you play golf?), 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 April, 2023 WCIT competition creek was Creek-to-be-named XXXXII, located in a compact and heavily urbanised 8343 watershed (partly the golf course); a great and accessible watershed study area (particularly if you like golf?). The 8343 coastal creek outfall is located (somewhere...) in the "Booth Canal".
Local watershed area maps and creek images
"8343" (golf course) Watershed & Creek
The 8343 watershed (golf course, just NORTH ISLAND) is small in size, < 63 hectares (153 acres) in size (similar in size to the Xwaaqw'um area 9075 watershed (CENTRAL/SOUTH island).
The 8343 watershed as defined receives < 595,650,000 litres (157,354,157 gallons) of rainfall (precipitation, or surface water) per annum.
Creek-to-be-named XXXXII creek's sea outfall is in Booth Canal though the last stretches of the creek system towards its sea discharge are unclear. Manley and Stewardson (2014) suggest that this golf course creek is a tributary of the Okano Creek in the Okano Creek watershed, this is inconsistent with the CRD SSI Watersheds map, and their noted creek paths.
There are no known records of flow (seasonal/year-round) or chemistry in this creek/watershed area.
The Creek-to-be-named XXXII creek system may play contributing role in controlling coastal fresh-brackish water conditions, and sea gardens(?) in the marine-estuarine tidal embayment associated with Booth Canal.
The watersheds creek drainage system (flow, chemistry) is likely to be significantly influenced by various land modifications across the watershed area.
The 8343 watershed has < 10 subsurface wells, not all wells may be registered.
Further work is required to ground-truth the 8343 creek seasonal(?) flow and chemistry characteristics. Interested - contact the SSIFWC project lead.
Historical & Other Watershed Insights:
TBD
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 no SSIFWC data collection within this Creek-to-be-named XXXII, nor any surface data in this general 8343 watershed (golf course and surrounds), though maybe the golf course folks have some freshwater records? Local data collection in the area would give insights into the impact of the various area land usages on the watershed’s freshwater ecosystems, and an improved understanding of how this surface water catchment in the watershed contributes to aquifer recharge (and local discharge!) in this general area…
It may be that the not all wells in this area are in the province database (one of the WCIT images in this webpage suggests a possible shallow well adjacent to the creek - though there is no record online).
8343 is a candidate for gathering freshwater catalogue data for “ground-truthing” surface freshwater - groundwater recharge/baseflow interactions (watershed efficiency and hydraulic connectivity) and model for one of our island’s smaller watersheds, and is handy for access for some of the more sporty types!
FWC Images and Videos:
8343 (golf course) 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 - note in this documentation this "golf course creek" is erroneously assigned as a tributary of the Okano Creek in the Okano Creek watershed.