INVISIBLE WATER/WAYS

Invisible Water/Ways is an educational campaign celebrating the waterways flowing under Greater Victoria. How can learning about the historical layers of landscape under our feet change the way we understand and care for the place we make our home?

GLOBAL CONTEXT

Cities around the world have buried waterways in hard infrastructure, removing their ability to naturally clean and filter water, to regulate climate, to support habitat, and to mitigate weather events. Green infrastructure provides ecological solutions to help address these issues and mitigate risk to our cities from extreme weather events.

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration calls for the protection and revival of ecosystems around the world. This call asks cities to adopt nature-based solutions at the urban scale to restore degraded ecosystems. This decade, ending in 2030 has been identified by scientists as the last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change.

LOCAL SOLUTIONS

Invisible Water/Ways scratches the surface of Greater Victoria’s landscape history, narrating the context and sharing information to inspire community connections and nature-based solutions. Our long-term vision is to restore ecological function to the watershed, while building community and creating spaces for people and nature in the city. This begins by expanding our understanding of the landscapes buried underneath us.

Johnson Creek

SOURCE: ARCGIS

Invisible Water/Ways launched in 2024, focusing on a creek running underneath the downtown neighbourhood, known to some as ‘Johnson’ creek. As Butch Dick describes in Signs of ləkʷəŋən, the ravine was surrounded by willow trees and berries, cutting through a meadow landscape. The waterway was lined with paths made by bark harvesters, collecting bark from the bitter cherry trees to craft household objects. This creek was a source of food and materials for the ləkʷəŋən people stewarding the region.

Although the ravine has been filled and paved over, traces of the former landscape still exist. Invisible Water/Ways has brought together archival maps and photos that help tell the story of how our city overtook the creek. We have created a walking tour that follows the path of the creek, dipping in and out of the ravine and ending where the creek still flows into the inner harbour under the Johnson Street Bridge.

This tour is available online as a story map for a self-guided experience.

Click here for the story map!

FRIENDS OF JOHNSON CREEK

We enthusiastically support the Victoria Downtown Residents Association (VDRA) in creating a Friends of the Johnson Creek group. Please visit their website to learn about this group and/or join the mailing list.

Click here for our website!

Upcoming Events:

For the moment, there are no upcoming events.

Past Events:

January 2024 ↘

Launch: Engagement Session for City of Victoria’s OCP. Hosted by Wiser Projects and the VDRA, Invisible Water/Ways participated in the session, sharing information about Johnson Creek and introducing the initiative.

March 2024 ↘

Lost Rivers Movie Night: Hosted by the VDRA, Invisible Water/Ways shared archival maps and information with the audience. From the location under the Johnson Street Bridge, the sounds of the creek flowing into the harbour was a meaningful acoustic backdrop to the film.

May 2024 ↘

Jane’s Walk: Following ‘Johnson Creek.’ The inaugural Johnson Creek walking tour was shared with the community through Jane’s Walk. It was a rainy day of watershed replenishment! Thanks to all who came out.

September 10, 2024 ↘

Park(ing) Day: Speak to the Creek

PRECEDENTS

Many cities are in the process of revitalizing buried waterways. We’ve compiled examples, both regional and international, inviting you to imagine how waterway revitalization might take shape in your neighbourhood.