From Drained Lands to Living Waters: Restoring Salmon Habitat in Xwaaqw’um
For generations, Xwaaqw’um has supported two fish-bearing streams, alongside wetlands, estuary habitats and forests that once sustained abundant salmon and wildlife.
Over time, industrial logging and agricultural drainage altered natural water flows across the landscape. Historic drainage systems installed to support farming caused water to run off the land too quickly, drying out wetlands and reducing natural water storage. Aging infrastructure such as bridges and culverts (pipe or tunnel that carries water under roads) has also created barriers to fish passage, limiting access to upstream spawning areas (places in rivers, lakes or oceans where fish lay their eggs and reproduce). At the same time, climate change has intensified seasonal droughts and heavy rainfall, further stressing the watershed.
Together, these pressures have degraded stream and wetland habitats and contributed to declines in wild coho salmon and coastal trout populations that depend on healthy, connected freshwater ecosystems.
Drained agricultural field at Xwaaqw’um prior to restoration. (Photo Credit: Stqeeye’ Learning Society)
Restoring Wetlands and Streams
The Stqeeye’ Learning Society, an Indigenous-led organization associated with Cowichan Tribes, is restoring wetlands and streams in Xwaaqw’um with support from the Indigenous Stewardship Fund (ISF). Their work focuses on restoring natural water storage and reconnecting habitat by removing outdated drainage systems, restoring wetlands through native planting and invasive species removal, and installing beaver dam analogues (human-built structures that mimic natural beaver dams) along with other woody structures that retain water and support more natural flow patterns.
Crew building a beaver dam analogue along the stream. (Photo Credit: Stqeeye’ Learning Society)
Beaver dam analogue installed to slow water and support wetland restoration. (Photo Credit: Stqeeye’ Learning Society)
A key goal of this work is to restore sustainable fish populations so that Quw’utsun peoples can once again harvest traditional foods in their traditional territories.
“Our project brings Indigenous people and values back to the landscape that was a traditional village site until colonization.”
— Rachel Bevington, Wetland Restoration Coordinator, Stqeeye’ Learning Society
Nature’s Ecosystem Engineers: How One Beaver Can Make a Big DifferenceBeavers are a keystone species, meaning they have an outsized impact on the health of an ecosystem. The return of even a single beaver can mark the beginning of ecosystem recovery. By building dams with trees, branches, mud, and rocks, beavers create ponds and wetlands that provide habitat for fish, birds, amphibians, mammals, and plants. Their dams also trap sediment, improve water quality, replenish groundwater, and store water that supports streams during dry periods. By creating and maintaining these healthy habitats, beavers help increase biodiversity and make ecosystems more resilient.
Supporting Local Employment and Stewardship
The restoration work is also creating employment and strengthening local stewardship capacity. The project has created four paid positions (three full-time and one part-time), with three of the roles held by Indigenous staff. It has also provided employment opportunities for Indigenous youth, with 13 youth employed so far. These efforts contribute to the local economy while building skills and stewardship capacity within the community.
Indigenous youth restoration crew. (Photo Credit: Stqeeye’ Learning Society)
Recovery in Motion
Early signs of recovery are already visible across the landscape. Over 60 small wetlands have now formed across the site, transforming previously dry areas into pools and wetland patches. Along Upper Lee Creek, 11 beaver dam analogues were installed to slow water and improve habitat. Restoration efforts also included planting 5,000 native plants in wetland areas and more than 1,000 along the riparian corridor. Wildlife is already responding. A beaver has returned and is using the newly installed dam structures, while ducks, other aquatic birds and amphibians are returning to the restored wetlands. Together, these changes signal the early stages of ecological recovery in the traditional territory of the Quw’utsun peoples, where cultural and ceremonial practices continue alongside thriving plants, fish and wildlife.
Wetlands returning to the landscape. (Photo Credit: Stqeeye’ Learning Society)
Beaver captured on a trail camera in the restored wetland. (Photo Credit: Stqeeye’ Learning Society)
Land blessing ceremony at Xwaaqw’um, bringing songs and drums back to the valley. (Photo Credit: Stqeeye’ Learning Society)
“Without these funds, the stream restoration work would not have been completed. Bringing climate change and UNDRIP concerns forward in the public eye is a vital part of how the funding is used to promote conservation and food sovereignty.”
— Rachel Bevington, Wetland Restoration Coordinator, Stqeeye’ Learning Society
The Indigenous Stewardship Fund (ISF) works in close partnership with the First Nations Fisheries Council (FNFC), which serves as a frontline organization for collaboration with First Nations across British Columbia. FNFC leads relationship-building and engagement with more than 200 First Nations across the province, listening to and identifying Nations’ interests, priorities and perspectives. ISF complements this work by serving as the funding mechanism that helps turn those relationships and priorities into action. Together, FNFC and ISF ensure that the leadership, needs and priorities of BC First Nations are met with flexible and accessible resources that support Indigenous-led stewardship, habitat protection and long-term environmental resilience.
