SESSION DESCRIPTION

Restorative Landscape Design - BC Transit Handydart Nature-Based Solution from Ditch to Salmon Stream

The site of BC Transit’s new electric bus facility in Victoria was a highly disturbed site due to the construction of the island highway expansion in the 80’s. The site was used to dispose of excess fill and rock. A small stream through the middle of the site was realigned into an armoured channel. 40 years later, the channel was overgrown with invasive plants and was poor fish habitat. The design of the new facility required that the ditch be moved or piped under the facility. MDI helped convince BC Transit that there was value in rebuilding the stream with riffles and pools and that it could become an ecological asset. In addition to designing and overseeing the construction of the stream, MDI developed an integrated rainwater management plan that uses rain gardens to treat runoff from 100% of the proposed roof and parking surfaces. The stream was completed in the summer of 2022, and juvenile salmon and trout have already migrated into its full 250 m length. The project is the first Salmon Safe certified project on Vancouver Island.