Helping hand
NEWS: Region split on funding Tourism Victoria /A3 NEWS: B.C. Greens select interim leader /A6 SPORTS: Dragster gets his trophy /A18
Native Friendship Centre secures $10K sports grant Page A5
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Opa! high in the sky A member of the Horeftikos Omilos Mesologgiou dance troupe leaps into the air during a performance at the 12th annual Greek Fest on Friday. The world-famous dance troupe was flown in from Greece to participate in the Saanich-based festival. To read more on the Horeftikos Omilos Mesologgiou dancers, see Page A12. Don Denton/News staff
Friends look to revitalize Swan creek
O
Edward Hill Reporting
ver the past two years, Colquitz creek has been a waterway under assault. It was polluted with at least eight spills from leaky home heating oil tanks, and a significant chunk of its streambank is being excavated this month after a sustained mineral oil leak from an underground power line. Swan creek, a lesser-known Colquitz tributary that meanders from Swan Lake to Interurban Road, has also suffered fuel contamination, prompting the emergence of a
new stewardship group. The little three-kilometre creek – which has been dredged, polluted, cleared of native vegetation, choked with invasive plants, paved over and has generally suffered a thousands cuts of urbanization for decades – finally has a protector. The Friends of Swan Creek Watershed started small, but has long-range plans to nurse the creek back to health, or as close to health as possible for a stream wedged between suburban neighbourhoods and pushed into culverts. The “Friends” formed out of an
initiative by the Peninsula Streams Society, Swan Lake-Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary and Saanich in the wake of the 1,800-litre fuel spill from a home heating oil tank in November 2011. Last November, with the help of Saanich parks staff, a group of community volunteers cleared a section of Swan creek streambank of invasive reed canary grass and planted more than 150 native trees. This September, volunteers hope to install a series of “riffles” – a section of rocks and gravel designed to improve salmon habitat and
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spawning grounds. “It’s been two hard years for fish. This year may be worse if there’s no rain until the fall. There’s not a lot of water in the creek,” remarked Bob Cox, chair of the Friends of Swan Creek Watershed. “There’s a lot of vegetation growth in the water. We’re at a typical urban stream with typical impacts.” Swan creek will be a tough project in terms of restoring a healthy ecosystem. PLEASE SEE: Swan creek restoration, Page A7