About Us
Millard-Piercy Watershed Stewards is a non-profit organization with a mission to assess, restore, and maintain the ecosystems of the Millard-Piercy Watershed. We strive to promote community stewardship to help ensure long-term watershed protection to the benefit of both people and the natural environment. We accomplish this by creating rewarding work opportunities for our volunteers that also help us to collect valuable information on the watershed, educating the community on the watershed and issues that affect it, taking action to protect the watershed against harmful activities, and undertaking restoration and enhancement activities that directly benefit fish and wildlife.
The Watershed: Headwaters, Sub-basins and Estuary
The Millard-Piercy Watershed (MPW) is a spring-fed system that has evidence of groundwater connections to Morrison Creek and Comox Lake. There are 3 main remaining wetlands (and several smaller ones) in the Millard-Piercy Watershed that are essential to its survival- they provide groundwater into the system and help to soak up rainwater and buffer the effects of high flows on the watershed. They also act as important areas for wildlife, as sources of food for downstream stream dwellers, and as important filtration for pollutants that enter the watershed.
The MPW is made up of sub-basins, which are main areas of the watershed that collect rainwater and snowmelt and deliver across a variety of landscapes it to a common point. The main sub-basins of this watershed include the Millard sub-basin, the North Piercy Basin, and the South Piercy Basin. Water introduced to the urban part of Courtenay is collected from roofs, streets, parking lots and pavement in the 'Urban Basin'', where it is transported to a network of stormdrains to Piercy Creek at the south end of Willemar Avenue. Another capture basin includes the Connector basin: this area drains water along the route of the Courtenay Parkway down the ditches, and it also bisects the Piercy and Millard sub-basins. To find out if you live in the watershed, or to view the sub-basin maps, go to this link.
The Stewards
The Stewards originally formed as a group of residents called the "Dippers" in 1994 due to concerns over the health of local streams. In 1998 the Stewards incorporated as a non-profit society and took on the name "Millard-Piercy Watershed Stewards". Early accomplishments included the mapping of our entire stream system and instituting a comprehensive assessment and monitoring program. The Stewards have created a community-based Watershed Management Plan; deliver well-organized educational programs such as the popular Watershed Walks, Backyard Habitat Workshops, and the Streamside Stewardship Program; monitor water quality, water flows, fish habitat and fish populations; and maintain an excellent relationship with all sectors of the community.
Our Programs
We currently have 3 programs where we carry out most of our work. These are the:
Important for monitoring watershed health, to identify sensitive areas to protect and opportunities to enhance or restore, and to increase awareness of watershed health. This includes water quality monitoring, fish counts, and flow measurements
This is where we engage the community to learn more about the watershed and how to protect it, and take action to prevent negative impacts on the environment. This includes watershed walks, landowner contact, developer meetings, and presentations to decision-makers.
On-the ground work meant to restore degraded areas, and enhance impacted area and species. It includes stream restoration, native planting and invasive plant removal, and microhatchery operations
All of these programs compliment one another and provide us with a dynamic framework in which we help to manage the watershed.
Linking with the rest of the Comox Valley
Our approach and the results from our programs helps other watersheds in the Comox Valley. The MPW is linked to these other watersheds in many ways-
· there are political jurisdictions that encompass not only the MPW, but also the Roy Creek, Morrison Creek and Puntledge watersheds,
· The MPW is part of a watershed network that connects wildlife with other watersheds, the estuary and with Strathcona Park.
· Finally, our watershed joins the larger Comox Harbour estuary, a vital link between the terrestrial landscape and the ocean environment.
Over the past 10+ years, the Millard/Piercy Watershed Stewards have built capacity to protect and enhance our watershed. We have attracted a wealth of diverse expertise, developed a comprehensive Watershed Plan, managed projects worth nearly $800,000 and overseen the invaluable efforts of dedicated volunteers. This is a small and biologically important watershed (13 sq. km.) that is threatened by a growing urban area and agricultural and industrial land use activities. With a diverse board, staff and volunteer base, and a willing local government and public, there is a valuable opportunity to focus on workable solutions that will maintain the integrity of the watershed.
Check out the "Introduction to the Millard-Piercy Watershed Stewards" PowerPoint presentation on our “Documents” page under “Programs”. For more information on how to become involved, email mpws@shaw.ca.