Towards Sustainable Water on Bowen Island
Basics
Title
Towards Sustainable Water on Bowen Island
Description
A presentation addressing sustainable water management on Bowen Island, covering the interconnection of surface water and groundwater systems, the Grafton Lake watershed, groundwater recharge mapping, and the need for comprehensive water protection strategy incorporating both Public Works management and land use planning to protect natural water infrastructure including forests, streams, wetlands, and aquifers.
Date
January 1, 2025
Creator Organization
Bowen Island Conservancy
Authors
Bob Turner | Rosemary Knight
Document Type
slideshow
Full Text URL
Metadata
Keywords
water management
|groundwater
|surface water
|Grafton Lake
|watershed
|recharge
|aquifer
|land use planning
|Public Works
|OCP
|water security
|sustainability
|nature's needs
|green infrastructure
|vulnerability
|water budget
|monitoring
Time Period
2023-2025
Document ID
202510131548
Document Filename
water-presentation-turner-knight-council_202510131548.pdf
Storage Location
governance/bowen-conservancy
Key Findings
The presentation concludes that Bowen Island requires a comprehensive water protection strategy recognizing that surface water and groundwater are a single interconnected system. Key findings include: (1) Bowen Island needs a comprehensive water protection strategy; (2) Surface water and groundwater must be assessed, monitored and protected as one system; (3) Water security now requires both Public Works management and proactive land use planning; (4) Land use planning protection should begin immediately without waiting for OCP completion. High groundwater recharge areas are also areas of high aquifer vulnerability and require protection from development impacts.
Map Descriptions
Page 5: Three-dimensional topographic map showing Bowen Island's terrain with three mountains (Mt. Apodaca, Mt. Gardner, Mt. Collins) and two valleys, with labeled features including Grafton Lake, Killarney Lake, Snug Cove, Tunstall Bay, and Hood Point. Blue arrows indicate water flow patterns.
|Page 6: Three-dimensional terrain map showing Grafton Lake Watershed boundary (red outline) and Cove Bay Water Distribution Area (yellow arrows) illustrating water collection and distribution system.
|Page 7: Two-dimensional watershed map showing Grafton Lake watershed boundary in gold with features including Radar Hill, Quarry Park, Josephine Lake, Headwaters Park, Ruddy Kitchen, Lot 7 wetland, Buchanan Road, the Pit, Building Centre, Harding Road, The Lakelands, and Terminal Creek. Blue arrows show stream flow patterns and red arrows show water distribution routes.
|Page 8: Watershed map with green shading highlighting wetland areas around Grafton Lake perimeter and along Bowen Brook/Terminal Creek corridor.
|Page 10: Island-wide groundwater recharge potential map showing five categories (Very Low to Very High) with most areas showing Low to Moderate potential and higher recharge concentrated in valley bottoms and stream corridors. Map dated May 2025 from Groundwater Sustainability Science Program.
|Page 11: Detailed recharge map zooming into area around Bowen Bay Road, Westside Road, and Adams Road intersection showing Ruddy Kitchen and Sunset Road with predominantly Moderate recharge potential.
|Page 12: Same detailed area with emphasis on High and Very High recharge zones along stream corridor between Westside Road and Adams Road.
|Page 13: Detailed recharge map showing three rezoning application areas (two near Westside Road and Lot 7 near Buchanan Road) overlapping with or adjacent to High and Very High recharge zones, including property 1355.
Graph Descriptions
Page 2: Diagram showing water system with supply (stream inflow and groundwater) feeding lake, and demand (human use and nature's needs) drawing from lake.
|Page 3: Same water system diagram highlighting Public Works' traditional focus on managing human use component.
|Page 4: Water system diagram showing Land Use Planning connections to stream inflow, groundwater, and nature's needs components.
|Page 9: Cross-sectional hydrogeological diagram showing Grafton Lake, bedrock base, sand and gravel aquifer under valley, Bowen Brook surface flow, groundwater springs feeding lake, and wetland recharge area near Bowen Bay Road.
|Page 15: Geological cross-section showing alternating clay and sand/gravel layers with red arrows indicating fastpaths for water movement from surface through permeable materials to deep aquifers.
|Page 16: Same geological cross-section emphasizing that fastpaths transport both water and contaminants, making recharge maps also vulnerability maps.
|Page 17: Watershed cross-section diagram showing complete water cycle including precipitation, evapotranspiration, canopy moisture, stream flow, lake, surface water-groundwater exchange, recharge, groundwater, and pumping with labeled storage locations and fluxes.
|Page 18: Same watershed diagram with all components circled in red with question marks emphasizing need to measure all system components.
Image Descriptions
Page 1: Photograph of Grafton Lake in 2023 showing severely dried lakebed with extensive cracked mud patterns indicating drought conditions.
|Page 1: Photograph of Eagle Cliff reservoir in 2023 showing low water levels with exposed substrate and aquatic vegetation struggling in shallow water.
Page Count
18
Publisher Location
Bowen Island
File Format
application/pdf
Geographic Locations
Bowen Island | Grafton Lake | Snug Cove | Tunstall Bay | Hood Point | Mt. Apodaca | Mt. Gardner | Mt. Collins | Killarney Lake | Josephine Lake | Terminal Creek | Bowen Brook | Cove Bay | Radar Hill | Quarry Park | Headwaters Park | The Lakelands | Ruddy Kitchen
Street Address
Bowen Bay Road | Westside Road | Adams Road | Sunset Road | Buchanan Road | Harding Road