About Us
"From Headwaters to Deep waters"
est. 2002
At Peninsula Streams Society (informally known as Peninsula Streams & Shorelines), our registered charity’s mission is to build a legacy of healthy streams and shorelines. We envision a future where everyone knows, respects, and protects their local streams and shorelines, fostering a deep connection between communities and their natural environments.
Our Approach
Guided by our three foundational pillars—Ecological Restoration, Environmental Education, and Community Stewardship—we take a holistic, grassroots approach to stream and shoreline restoration. Our work is driven by a watershed and ecosystem-level perspective, with Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus) species (including coastal cutthroat trout) as well as intertidal spawning species of forage fish (surf smelt, Pacific sand lance, and herring) serving as focal and umbrella species that guide our restoration efforts.
We are committed to integrating our pillars through innovative programming, fostering collaboration, and sharing capacity to achieve shared environmental goals. We provide our partner groups with shared capacity in many forms, including expertise, funding, equipment, volunteers, and more.
Where We Work
Peninsula Streams Society operates within the Traditional Territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən People and the W̱SÁNEĆ People, and we are honoured to work alongside and learn from these Nations, community members, and stewardship teams. Our collaborations extend to over 10 municipalities, 6 First Nations, 20 "Friends Of" stewardship groups, and numerous environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs). Together, we take meaningful steps toward restoring and protecting our watersheds.
Project Feature: The Songhees Walkway Pocket Beach Restoration
This Welcome Pole, carved by Master Carver Tom LaFortune, overlooks the beautiful Songhees Walkway Pocket Beach, recently restored in partnership with the Songhees Nation, the Esquimalt Nation, and the City of Victoria using Green Shores for Shoreline Development approaches.
Project Feature: The ḰENNES Watershed Restoration Project
This multi-phase initiative, led by W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip First Nation) in partnership with Peninsula Streams & Shorelines, focuses on restoring vital ecosystems including riparian, wetland, stream, and Garry oak meadow habitats on the 78-hectare MÁW̱UEĆ property, recently returned to Tsartlip.
Our Volunteers
Our volunteers are the heart and soul of Peninsula Streams Society. Each year, they contribute thousands of volunteer hours to support habitat restoration, environmental monitoring, education, community outreach, and the ongoing care of local streams and shorelines.
Volunteers bring a wide range of skills, experiences, and perspectives to our work, whether they are planting native vegetation, collecting scientific data, removing invasive species, or sharing their knowledge with others. Their dedication, enthusiasm, and willingness to take action are essential to the success of our projects and programs and create meaningful, lasting benefits for communities and wildlife throughout the region.
Inclusivity & JEDI Commitment
Peninsula Streams Society is committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and welcoming environment across all aspects of our work. We embrace Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) principles and recognize that diverse perspectives, lived experiences, knowledge systems, and voices strengthen environmental stewardship and lead to more meaningful and lasting outcomes.
We actively work to create spaces where staff, volunteers, partners, students, and community members of all backgrounds feel valued, heard, safe, and empowered to contribute to the health of local watersheds. This includes building respectful relationships with Indigenous Nations and communities, recognizing the importance of Indigenous knowledge and leadership, and remaining open to learning and improving how we engage with the communities we serve.
We strive to reduce financial, physical, social, and other barriers to participation wherever possible. Our educational programming is offered free of charge, and we aim to make volunteer activities, community events, and learning opportunities accessible to people with a wide range of abilities, experiences, and levels of environmental knowledge. We are committed to ongoing reflection, learning, and adaptation so that our programs and organizational practices continue to become more equitable, inclusive, and responsive.
Small But Mighty
Though we are a small team, our impact is significant. Through dedication, collaboration, and community-driven and supported action, we continue to make meaningful strides in restoring and protecting the vital streams and shorelines that sustain us all.
Join us in our mission and become part of a growing movement to safeguard our shared natural heritage!
A Brief History
2001
Multi-year federal government funding for two successful watershed restoration programs (Hagan and Tseycum) on the Saanich Peninsula wraps up. The directors of five small stewardship groups face a daunting decision: fold in the face of funding withdrawal for their environmental projects, or galvanize and continue.
2002
For conservation enthusiasts, the choice is clear, and Peninsula Streams Society (PSS) forms. Designed as a “group of groups,” PSS aims to secure long-term funding for watershed restoration by uniting organizations like the Friends of Dominion Brook Park, the Friends of Tod Creek Watershed, and SeaChange Marine Conservation Society.
Founding Chair Tom Davis helps launch the organization with corporate donors, while the District of North Saanich contributes $10,000 and Fisheries and Oceans Canada provides office space at the Institute of Ocean Sciences in North Saanich.
PSS quickly expands its work across the Saanich Peninsula, developing restoration projects, student education programs, and water quality monitoring services for municipalities. Misty MacDuffee and Ian Bruce begin as co-leaders, with Ian becoming staff leader in 2004.
2005
The District of Central Saanich funds a community science water quality monitoring program for the KENNES Watershed.
2008
PSS achieves charitable status, further improving access to funding from foundations and donors interested in supporting watershed conservation activities.
2009
The Creatures of Habitat environmental education program is formed, bringing place-based empowering activities to 6th and 7th graders around the region.
2011
Regular water quality monitoring begins for Tetayut Creek after a devastating sewage line breakage fills the creek with hundreds of thousands of litres of raw sewage.
2012
The multi-phase Patricia Bay Beach Nourishment Project kicks off, becoming the largest shoreline restoration project in the region at the time in partnership with Tseycum First Nation.
PSS supports the establishment of the Friends of Swan Creek Watershed group and begins collaborative restoration of this key tributary to the Colquitz River through installation of riffles, spawning gravel, and riparian planting, leading to the return of spawning coho salmon shortly after restoration.
2016
PSS and partners construct a fish ladder at the Reay Creek dam in Sidney, restoring fish passage and allowing coho salmon to access upstream habitat in the watershed for the first time in decades. Volunteers also begin riparian planting along the creek to stabilize banks, improve shade, and filter runoff.
2018
The Beach Education and Conservation of Habitat (BEACH) Program is created to engage local communities in shoreline stewardship and education activities. Widespread community science monitoring of forage fish beach spawning begins.
2019
PSS and the District of Saanich begin major instream restoration in the Colquitz River at Copley East Park, restoring approximately 120 m of habitat with riffles, spawning gravel, large woody debris, and riparian planting to improve habitat for coho salmon and coastal cutthroat trout.
2020
A major fish passage barrier on Millstream Creek is resolved with the installation of a step pool fishway at the Atkins Avenue culvert in Langford. The project restores access to over 7 km of upstream habitat for coho salmon and coastal cutthroat trout and represents a major milestone for urban salmon recovery in the watershed.
2021
The Rain Gardens for Headwaters Program launches, bringing green stormwater infrastructure into schools and communities across Greater Victoria. Demonstration rain gardens slow, cool, and filter polluted runoff while serving as hands-on learning spaces that connect residents to watershed stewardship.
2022
PSS and partners restore a degraded shoreline at Lime Bay Park along the Songhees Walkway in Victoria Harbour. The project creates a nature-based pocket beach that improves coastal habitat, supports forage fish spawning, and demonstrates Green Shores shoreline restoration in an urban setting.
The organization celebrates its 20 year anniversary, and changes its name informally to Peninsula Streams and Shorelines to recognize work in estuaries and coastal environments.
2023
PSS forms a partnership with Tsartlip First Nation, launching the multi-phase KÉNNES Watershed Restoration Project aimed at restoring vital ecosystems, including riparian, wetland, stream, and Garry oak meadow habitats, on the 78 hectare MÁWUEĆ property, recently returned to Tsartlip.
PSS secures a three year BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF) grant to expand restoration and monitoring across the Colquitz watershed, supporting additional instream work and salmon population monitoring.
PSS launches a monitoring program for the invasive European Green Crab, training community scientists to identify and report this high-risk species along local shorelines.
TODAY
PSS exists as an innovative watershed stewardship organization on Southern Vancouver Island, engaging thousands of volunteers and residents annually to protect local watersheds through restoration, stewardship, and education. PSS provides expertise from headwaters to deep waters, with 7 qualified staff members supporting over 20 stewardship groups operating in 15 watersheds across 11 municipalities.