The Goldstream River ( Saanich: sʔə́ləq̕ʷtəɬ) is a river northwest of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

on southern

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

, British Columbia, Canada . The river's name derives from a small gold rush in its basin during the 1860s, and was originally Gold Stream.

Course

The Goldstream River begins at the outlet of Butchart Lake, the first of three reservoirs along the upper reaches of the Goldstream which are within the Greater Victoria Watershed Area. Shortly after exiting Butchart Lake it flows into Lubbe Lake. Shortly after exiting Lubbe Lake the river enters the final and largest of the three lakes, Goldstream Lake. After exiting Goldstream Lake, the river flows southeast until it turns north and enters

Goldstream Provincial Park Goldstream Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It is known for the annual fall salmon runs in the Goldstream River, and the large numbers of bald eagles that congregate to feed at that time. The total size of the par ...

. Just before entering the park, the river receives its first major tributary, Waugh Creek. About halfway through the park, the river tumbles over Goldstream Falls. After the falls it continues north, receiving its final major tributary, Niagara Creek, just before finally entering the southern end of Finlayson Arm, a long inlet at the south end of the larger

Saanich Inlet , image = Saanich Inlet from Gowlland Tod Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, Canada 13.jpg , image_size = 260px , caption = Saanich Inlet from Gowlland Tod Provincial Park , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Northwest o ...

, while still inside the park.

Power generation

At the turn of the century, the Lubbe Hydroelectric Plant was operated near Goldstream and created electricity by running high pressure drinking water through a

turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating e ...

. A powerline then ran into Victoria and provided electricity to power the streetcars of the day. The plant still exists but is inaccessible to the public.

Wildlife

Goldstream River and

host a wide variety of wildlife. In particular,

Coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientific species name i ...

spawn in the river in late October to November. Spawning season attracts a great number of visitors to the park. A large variety of west coast birds can be found by the river, with

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

s and

seagulls Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, ...

commonly seen consuming dead salmon after they have spawned.

December 2010 prank

On December 29, 2010

fluorescein Fluorescein is an organic compound and dye based on the xanthene tricyclic structural motif, formally belonging to triarylmethine dyes family. It is available as a dark orange/red powder slightly soluble in water and alcohol. It is widely used ...

was dumped in the Goldstream River, likely as a prank. The result was that the waters turned a bright, glowing green. Health officials said the chemical is non-toxic, used primarily to find leaks in septic systems along with various medical applications. Some people may experience allergic reactions. As of January 10, 2011 it was unknown who dumped the chemical.

References

External links