Where the water and the wild things are

See pristine wilderness, traces of early Victoria’s history and the city’s source of drinking water at CRD Watershed Tours: Source to Tap, today through Saturday at the Sooke Lake Reservoir.

The Integrated Water Services Department of the Capital Regional District is once again inviting the public to take free bus tours of the watershed they manage during B.C. Drinking Water Week.

The tour, which takes five and a half hours, gives participants a behind-the-scenes look at the more than 20,500 hectares that make up the watershed. It is a place of unspoiled wilderness on the outskirts of the city. In the past, it was a former logging area complete with a sawmill. Snaking through the property was a road that stagecoaches took to travel from Sooke and Leechtown.

Human activity, even access, is restricted now. The 8.3-kilometre long Sooke Lake has been a reservoir since 1915, with nearby Goldstream Lake serving as a backup.

The tour will follow the flow of water as it makes its way from Rithet Creek (the lake’s main tributary) to the water supply facilities and finally the watertreatment process it undergoes before it flows from the tap.

Along the way, people will see a forest dominated by Douglas fir, with stands of western red cedar, white pine and alder.

Joining the tour is free but registration is required. There is one tour a day, which runs 9:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. today through Saturday. Tours are recommended for ages 12 and up. Tours start from the CRD Field Office parking lot, 2955 Sooke Lake Rd. (near Goldstream Park campground). The tours repeat in June, when they will add shorter three-hour tours, twice a day, as well.

To register, or for details, go to crd.bc.ca/service/public-tours/ watershed-tours.