Green/Cheakamus watershed: Water quality report for the 2023 dry season

This report highlights results from the first dry (summer) season sampling carried out with the support and participation of the Whistler Lakes Conservation Foundation (WLCF).

Team

Peter Ross, Sam Scott, Natasha Klasios, and Marie Noel. Raincoast Healthy Waters.

Whistler Lakes Conservation Foundation: Lynn Kriwoken, Peggy English, Tom English, and Neil Bailey.

A watershed based approach to sampling

Published in June 2024.

P.S. Ross, S. Scott, M. Noel, and N. Klasios. 2024. Green/Cheakamus watershed: Water quality report for the 2023 dry season. Raincoast Conservation Foundation. 75 pp. https://doi.org/10.70766/955.423

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the financial support of the Whistler Lakes Conservation Foundation (WLCF). We are grateful for the enthusiastic support of Lynn Kriwoken, Peggy English, Tom English, Neil Bailey and Natasha Klasios. We acknowledge the expert analytical support of Pam MacKenzie and Richard Grace at SGS-AXYS, and Xiangjun Liao and Andrew Ross at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. We thank Nicholas Collins (WLCF) for his review of this report. We thank Alex Harris, Sherwin Arnott and Brooke Gerle for report design. Photo credits: Sam Scott,  Peter Ross, and Lynn Kriwoken.

Executive summary

Water is essential for life, and steps are needed to understand, protect and restore its health in fish habitat throughout British Columbia. The Raincoast Healthy Waters program was launched in 2023 to establish community-oriented water pollution monitoring in select BC watersheds.

Two Healthy Waters sampling events take place every year in each watershed – the first in the dry season (summer), and the second being in the wet season (winter). While the Healthy Waters program typically focuses its work within singular watersheds, this partnership featured two Whistler area watersheds: the Green River, which drains through the Lillooet and Fraser Rivers into the Strait of Georgia (watershed area of 875 km2). and the Cheakamus River which drains south via the Squamish River to Howe Sound (watershed area of 1,034 km2). Combined, these watersheds cover an area of 1,909 km2.

This report highlights results from the first dry (summer) season sampling carried out with the support and participation of the Whistler Lakes Conservation Foundation (WLCF). Briefly, the Healthy Waters – WLCF team determined basic water properties (temperature, conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen and turbidity) in situ at sampling sites on July 27, 2023. Water samples were collected from five water categories, including source water (2 samples), stream and river water (7 samples), road runoff (6 samples), tap water (10 samples – pooled into a single composite sample) and marine water (one sample). Samples were then analysed individually for coliform, metals, nutrients and physical parameters, and pooled by water category for analysis of pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), alkylphenol ethoxylates, bisphenols, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), sucralose and 6PPD Quinone.

Overall, the Green/Cheakamus watersheds had relatively good water quality in the dry season, but additional sampling and analysis will provide additional insight into contamination impacts from forest fires, domestic wastewater, industrial chemicals and road runoff on the health of this valued watershed.

The Green/Cheakamus Watershed

Map of the Whistler Lakes watershed where testing happened in 2023.
Water samples were collected from sites within two Whistler area watersheds: the Green River which drains northeast via the Lillooet and Fraser Rivers into the Strait of Georgia and the Cheakamus River which drains south via the Squamish River to Howe Sound. Combined, these watersheds cover an area of 1,909 km2.These watersheds are located on the traditional ancestral territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Líl̓wat Nations, who have stewarded this land for millenia. Sampling sites (red stars in the upper right figure) captured a range of locations for our assessment of water quality (Map by Brooke Gerle / Raincoast Conservation Foundation).

Key findings

  • We collected and analysed water in the Green/Cheakamus River watersheds during the dry season (July 27, 2023).
  • Road runoff was the most contaminated water category in the dry season; it had the highest concentrations of nutrients, pesticides, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, and 6PPD Quinone.
  • Tap water was the second most contaminated water category in the dry season; it had the highest concentration of bisphenols, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
  • Source water, stream and river water, and marine water were the least contaminated water categories in the dry season.
  • Stream and river water (fish habitat) had a wide variety of detected pharmaceuticals and personal care products, dominated by metformin, sucralose, caffeine, theophylline and DEET, indicating domestic wastewater influences.
  • Overall, the Green/Cheakamus watersheds had relatively good water quality in the dry season:
    • There were 2 exceedances of Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines.
    • There was 1 exceedance of Health Canada Drinking Water Quality Guidelines.

Background

Raincoast’s Healthy Waters Program (www.raincoast.org/waters/) delivers high-resolution, community-oriented water quality analysis to watersheds across southern British Columbia. The goal of Healthy Waters is to empower communities with the understanding of the status of water quality in their watersheds, to allow for local stewardship regarding both point and nonpoint source pollution. 

The Whistler Lakes Conservation Foundation (WLCF) studies, informs and acts to protect the waters in the Whistler area, including Alpha, Nita, Alta, Lost and Green Lakes, and their tributaries. The WLCF partnered with the Raincoast Healthy Waters team in 2023 to generate an analysis of contaminants of past, current and emerging concern in local waters.  Water samples were collected from sites within two Whistler area watersheds: the Green River which drains northeast via the Lillooet and Fraser Rivers down into the Strait of Georgia and the Cheakamus River which drains south via the Squamish River to Howe Sound. Combined, these watersheds cover an area of 1,909 km2.

A watershed based approach to sampling

Illustration of a watershed from mountain source to urban city and sea, with icons pointing out source water, freshwater, urban runoff, tap water, and marine environment.

We collect samples from five different categories of water in each of our partner watersheds: from source water, upstream of human impacts, down to the marine environment. 

Source water serves as an upstream reference sample, allowing us to determine which contaminants are being introduced as water traces its path down through the watershed. 

Stream and river samples allow us to investigate the quality of fish habitat directly, by collecting samples from streams, creeks, and rivers used by salmon and other fish species (either currently or historically). 

Road runoff serves as an impacted sample category of current concern, as many contaminants, including  PAHs, metals, surfactants and chemicals such as 6-PPD quinone can be washed off roadways and into fish habitat during rain events. 

We include tap water samples in our analysis as a way to bring our homes into the conversation – we borrow water from the environment in the form of municipal or well water, and generally return it to aquatic habitats in a more-degraded state in the form of storm and sewage effluent (treated or untreated).

Marine water samples provide insight into those contaminants that may degrade fish and whale habitat in the ocean, and enable an understanding of the contribution of land-based pollutants from the adjacent watershed to the marine environment.

Collectively, the lessons learned from our partnering watersheds will contribute to a greater understanding of threats to water quality across British Columbia, and ultimately what policy changes can be implemented to preserve the quality of water for the future of salmon, whales, and people.

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