The Elk/Beaver Regional Park is a 1,072 acres (4.34 km2) park in Saanich, British Columbia.
Elk/Beaver Lake was known as the "Freshwater Playground of Victoria" in its heyday, the 1930s and 1940s. However, with the completion of the Pat Bay highway in the 1950s, focus turned ‘green’ and measures were taken to start restoring the park to its natural state and protecting it. In 1966 Elk/Beaver Lake became a regional park.
Today, a good balance between a “freshwater playground” and a preserved, natural park has been established. The co-existence between the stakeholders and the land is apparent. Park-goers make efforts to keep the park clean and up kept. It is for this reason that most hikers will have numerous sightings of wildlife where in other places, most viewers would only be lucky to see.
In the 1850s traders purchased the entire Saanich Peninsula from the Coast Salish people for 386 wool blankets. After Canada became a unified nation, the land became Crown land and fell under the jurisdiction of the province of British Columbia. Today, the park is up kept and managed by BC park services. Because it is a protected area, it does not serve as a residential area. However, it is home to many species of wildlife. Plant species include: Breadroot (which is a rare species and is also known as Slender Woolyheads), Licorice Ferns, Yellow Pond Lilies, Cattail Reeds, Cottonwood, Pacific Crabapple, Red Alder, Douglas-fir and Western Red Cedar. Some common animal species are: Mergansers, Canada Geese, Buffleheads, Bald Eagles, Osprey, Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Pumpkinseed Sunfish, River Otters, Red-Winged Blackbirds (which is British Columbia’s provincial bird), Savannah Sparrows, Columbia Black-tailed Deer, Red-legged Frogs, Yellow Warblers, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Screech Owl and lastly the Giant Bullfrog which is an invasive species and a huge concern.
There are four main groups who interact with the lake: Rowers, equestrians, fishers and the general public.
The Rowing Centre is located on the southeast corner of Elk Lake. The boathouse is home to four user groups: The Victoria City Rowing Club, the Greater Victoria Youth Rowing Society (GVYRS), UVic, and Rowing Canada and all a part of the Victoria Rowing Society (VRS). Currently the boathouse has five bays with a second story above bay one. Here, young and old come together to learn, get fit and be competitive. They row all times of the day, starting with University crews at 5:30 am and usually ending with club crews around 6:00 pm, or 8:30pm in the summer months. Rowing has recently become hugely popular with the surrounding community and the VRS is finding that they do not have enough space to accommodate the large influx of athletes, and, therefore, an expansion of the boat house is underway. The expansion includes two additional storage bays, a new repair bay, upgraded shower and washroom facilities, additional office space, and an indoor fitness facility.
The Equestrian centre is located on the West side of the lake. Here people can come to exercise and train their horses in the tranquility of nature. Trails are open from sunrise to sunset.
Anglers are a common sight on Elk/Beaver Lake, and the lake is regularly stocked with rainbow trout. On occasion incidents occur between anglers and rowers who now number over a thousand regular users, but both groups try to share the lake as best as possible and the majority of both user groups do their best to accommodate and respect other lake users.
Last, but not least, the general public loves a weekend retreat to the lake. With no camping allowed, families come out for a Saturday morning hike on the easy trails around the lake or a Sunday picnic and swim on the beach (located in the North East corner).
The major issue concerning Elk/Beaver lake today is the boathouse expansion for VRS. This could potentially have a huge effect on the surrounding Riparian Zone which would, by definition, influence the aquatic ecosystem and play a role in soil conservation and biodiversity. However, according to the environmental assessment, the proposed method of action will have little to no effect on the surrounding wetlands as the development will be in an area where the land has already been altered due to past infrastructure. “Green” building technologies are to be used in development and the current structure is going to be updated to conserve water and energy.
Although the development will be environmentally friendly and sound, it will be economically challenging for the club compared to if they were less conscious of the Riparian Zone. This is typical of the sustainability triangle: it is nearly impossible to provide for social values, economics and the environment. In this case, the only aspect that will be negatively affected is economics. The majority of the stakeholders will benefit from the expansion which is why it has so much support. Rowers will have a better facility to train from and therefore have more chance to excel and the general public (which is the largest of the stake holding groups) will have more opportunity to observe rowing and they will have new, clean facilities to use while frequenting the park. The fishermen and equestrians are not really affected by the expansion but because the new facilities will be built in accordance with social values, and will not have much of an impact on the park, they are in favour.
Elk/ Beaver Lake Regional Park provides many people with a chance to enjoy nature and an area for recreation and fun. Social values and beliefs ensure the area’s integrity by helping to protect the riparian zone and environment even if it has high demands economically.