Characteristics:

• Fifteenth largest watershed in West Vancouver
• Bordered by Cave Creek and Cypress Creek watersheds to the west and north, and Pipe Creek and Rodgers Creek watershed to the east in West Vancouver, BC
• Originates on the south flank of Hollyburn Ridge
• Discharges into Burrard Inlet at West Bay near Radcliffe Avenue
• Fourty-six percent of the watershed is above the limit of development at 366 m (1200 ft), 25% is between 366 m elevation and Upper Levels highway, and 29% is between the highway and Marine Drive

History:

• Land around mouth was pre-empted as District Lot 557 in 1886 by P. A. Allen, a blacksmith at Moodys Ambleside logging camp

Watershed Use:

• Residential
• Park: Benbow Park, Deer Ridge Park
• Recreational: Skyline Trail/TransCanada Trail, other hiking trails, mountain biking
• Fish:
• Wildlife: diverse populations of mammal, bird and amphibian inhabit the watershed
• Train and automobile transportation, power lines

Concerns:

• Morphology:
  • Culvert at railway crossing, five road and driveway culverts and several footbridges to highway, culverts at highway and Cypress Bowl Road
  • channelization of creek and loss of tributaries through urban area
• Water Quality:
  • altered through proximity to urban development and storm drain discharge
  • potential for sewer lines breakages
• Current development and future development in upper watershed and associated problems, including:
  • increase in imperviousness
  • loss of wetlands and tributaries
  • construction of storm drain network resulting in altered water quality and quantity
  • encroachment into riparian zones
  • tributary channelization, bank alteration
  • increased erosion into creek

Key Interest Groups:

• Municipal: District of West Vancouver, District Parks Department
• Federal: Department of Fisheries and Oceans
• Provincial: Ministry of Transportation and Highways; Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection
• West Vancouver Streamkeepers
• BC Rail, BC Hydro
• Ratepayers Association
• Mountain biking clubs

Watershed Projects:

• 500 coho released from the Nelson Creek Hatchery, 2000
• Headwaters studied as part of environmental feasibility study for proposed Hollyburn Golf Course, 1989
• Bank stabilization completed, year unknown (FISS)
• Biophysical surveys, year unknown (FISS)

Recommendations for Further Actions:

• Assess creek for barriers and obstructions
• Install creek name signs at parks and along Marine Drive

Available Sources of Information:

• Maps: TRIM/UTM 92G034

Web Sites:

• http://www.pskf.ca/
  Pacific Streamkeeper Federation
• http://www.bcfisheries.gov.bc.ca/fishinv/fiss.html
  Fisheries Information Summary System (FISS)
• http://www.bcfisheries.gov.bc.ca/fishinv/index.html
  includes FISS, Survey Data, Base Maps, Methods
• http://www-heb.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/English/maps.htm includes Fish Wizard, Fisheries Project Registry, SHIM Data with Orthophotos, Wild Threatened, Endangered and Lost Streams of the Lower Fraser Valley
• http://www.shim.bc.ca
  Sensitive Habitat Information and Mapping

Reports:

1. Lower Fraser Valley Stream Review, Vol. 1. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Fraser River Action Plan, 1999
2. Wild Threatened, Endangered and lost Streams of the Lower Fraser Valley, Summary Report. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Fraser River Action Plan, 1997
3. Creeks in West Vancouver. Hugh Johnston?, 1990
4. West Vancouver Drainage. Dayton and Knight, 1973
5. Task Force Inquiry into Drainage Policies and Problems, Summary Report. District of West Vancouver, 1977
6. Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 3413, 2002
7. Hollyburn Ridge Golf Course Technical/Environmental Feasibility Study. Talisman Land Resource Consultants in association with Klohn Leonoff Ltd., 1989