Green/Cheakamus watershed: Water quality report for the 2023/2024 wet season
The Whistler Lakes Conservation Foundation 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.
Team
Raincoast Healthy Waters: Peter Ross, Sam Scott, and Marie Noel.
Whistler Lakes Conservation Foundation: Lynn Kriwoken, Peggy English, Tom English, and Neil Bailey.
A watershed based approach to sampling
Published 2024 June 21.
P.S. Ross, S. Scott and M. Noel. 2024. Green/Cheakamus watershed: Water quality report for the 2023-24 wet season. Raincoast Conservation Foundation. 79 pp. https://doi.org/10.70766/9365.56
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the financial support of the Whistler Lakes Conservation Foundation. We are grateful for the enthusiastic support of Lynn Kriwoken, Peggy English, Tom English, Neil Bailey. 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 of the WLCF for his efforts in helping us to edit and refine this document. We thank Alex Harris, Sherwin Arnott and Brooke Gerle for report design. Photo credits: Sam Scott and Peter Ross.
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 wet (winter) 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 November 23, 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 and analysed for 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 6-PPD Quinone. Several contaminant classes were found at higher concentrations in the dry season, but some were higher in the wet season.
Overall, the Green/Cheakamus watersheds had relatively good water quality in the wet 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
Key findings
- We collected and analysed water in the Green/Cheakamus River watersheds during the wet season (November 23, 2023).
- Road runoff was the most contaminated water category in the wet season; it had the highest concentrations of nutrients, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and 6-PPD quinone.
- Stream and river water was the second most contaminated water category in the wet season; it had the highest concentration of coliform bacteria and Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs).
- Source water, and stream and river water were less contaminated than the above water categories in the wet season.
- Tap water was the least contaminated water category in the wet season.
- Fecal coliform, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, bisphenols and 6-PPD Quinone concentrations were higher in the dry season than the wet season.
- Metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and alkylphenol ethoxylates were higher in the wet season than the dry season.
- Overall, the Green/Cheakamus watersheds had relatively good water quality in the dry season:
- There was one exceedance of Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines.
- There was one 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
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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