Community Watershed Monitoring Stewardship Group Profiles

The Departure Creek Streamkeepers are a group of trained and dedicated residents that plan and facilitate the restoration and monitoring of their neighbourhood creeks. Their 9-member water quality monitoring team goes above and beyond to collect chloride and turbidity samples for lab analysis in addition to their usual turbidity, dissolved oxygen, temperature and specific conductivity samples. Due to the many storm drains in the area that flow right into the creek, magnifying the impact of heavy rainfall events, the banks of Departure Creek have suffered from a significant level of erosion. For this reason, stream bank restoration and riparian planting have been the major focus in the creek. Coho and pink salmon as well as cutthroat trout, call this creek home, making erosion control a very important task for ensuring their survival! The group's commitment and persistence has been vital in creating changes to the structure and protection of the creek and surrounding area. By attending many public events and including members of the public and the nearby Departure Bay Eco School in their projects, they have built a community around respecting and protecting the environment and wildlife who share their neighbourhood park, creek and surrounding area.