Bowker Creek

Managed by Surfrider Foundation, Vancouver Island Chapter - BWYTF

Bowker Creek is an approximately 8 kilometers long freshwater creek with headwaters at a wetland at the University of Victoria campus. From there, the creek flows roughly southwards, through a system of underground channels and above ground sections, eventually discharging to the ocean near Glenlyon-Norfolk school in the district of Oak Bay. Urbanization of the Bowker Creek Watershed over the past 200 years has resulted in significant changes to the creek, including degraded water quality and the underground channelling of approximately 70% of the creek. Today, the creek is the subject of community and regional restoration efforts, as well as various environmental education initiatives. The Bowker Creek Walkway is located in Oak Bay, along one of the creek’s few remaining open sections, between the end of Armstrong Street and Monterey Avenue. This greenspace includes benches, picnic tables and a walkway along the creek.

The sampling location at Bowker Creek is at an open section of the creek off Haultain Street, near Dean Avenue.

WATER QUALITY

No data available
Current Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on . Surfrider Foundation, Vancouver Island Chapter - BWYTF updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on at

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CURRENT WEATHER

20°C

Clear and sunny

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MONITORING FREQUENCY

SOURCE INFORMATION

BWTF monitors sites around Victoria, BC year-round. Currently, BWTF is sampling (on average) 1 site every two weeks. They rotate the sites, so each one gets sampled on a regular basis, but they give priority to known or suspected problem sites.

Samples are typically collected on Saturdays, Sundays or Mondays, but Surfrider volunteers may collect samples on other days of the week depending on volunteer availability. Surfrider updates Swim Guide with new results as soon as test results become available, approximately 24-48 hours after sampling.

Surfrider’s BWTF utilizes the standardized EPA criteria of 235 MPN/100 mL for collecting and analyzing water samples. Test results are expressed as Most Probable Number (MPN) of E. Coli per 100 mL by using the IDEXX Quanti-Tray/2000 MPN Table.

Results are posted shortly after the lab results are available (approximately 24 hours after sample collection). Results will be communicated through the Swim Guide app and website. Results tables are also available on the Surfrider Foundation's Blue Water Task Force website at http://www.surfrider.org/blue-water-task-force/chapter/41.

Freshwater beaches are marked green when single sample test results show E. coli levels below 235 MPN / 100 mL of water.

A freshwater beach is marked Red when E. coli results are equal to or above 235 MPN / 100 mL water. If a sample exceeds the standard, the site is given priority for re-testing.

A beach is marked Grey when there are no current results or there is no available information.

WATER QUALITY GRAPH