Water is fundamentally linked to our quality of life and the 3 watershed areas in the plan area are under stress from both water extraction and contamination.  The Plan uses a watershed based planning approach.  A watershed is an area of land where all water that falls or drains into it moves toward a common outlet, such as a river, basin, ocean or receiving environment such as a aquifer.

The primary receiving environments are Shawnigan Lake, Shawnigan Creek, Mill Bay, Saanich inlet and the areas aquifers.  The ability of these water bodies to deal with sewage is the highest priority because these same water bodies are sources of drinking water and food. In order to protect these valuable resources, the Plan currently requires effluent discharges to meet the highest level of standard - Class A.

Approximately 35% of homes in the area are connected to a community sewer system.

A watershed characterization summary and water quality assessment reports can be found here.