Viaduct Flats Wetland Restoration

A small creek flows through the Glendale lands that is part of the salmon-bearing Colquitz watershed system. For several decades, an area along this creek known as Viaduct Flats was farmed.

In 1993, soon after the agriculture lease expired, a beaver dammed the creek at the downstream end of the flats.

Water remained on the land during the summer and fall, and the area was immediately transformed into unique wildlife habitat.

Birding observations from June 1994 through May 1995 showed there was a greater diversity and abundance of water-based birds on a year-round basis than any other site on southern Vancouver Island.

The area is now protected by a covenant agreement, and a committee with representatives from the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, the Victoria Natural History Society, and the Municipality of Saanich is developing a management plan.