Water Monitoring

Streamkeeper water monitoring has resumed now that the October/November seasonal “flush” is happening in our streams and rivers. Our monitoring continues to highlight the need for water source conservation and protection.

Qualicum Beach Streamkeepers actively participate in initiatives contributing to watershed management and fish habitat protection being carried out by other organizations. An example is the ongoing Community Water Quality Monitoring project initiated in 2011 by the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) and the British Columbia Department of the Environment (MOE).

The intent of this project is to consistently collect comparable data in as many watersheds as possible through the volunteer participation of stewardship groups, while providing an educational and data sharing resource for those groups. The data collected will be used to determine which watersheds need more detailed monitoring and/or improved management. This program is ongoing, and we will be planning to do our sampling again in the July/August and September/October of 2018.

Following is the RDN report for 2016. The data for this report is for the whole region with Qualicum's results found on pages 13, 23, 33, 43, and 52. Click here to view the full report. The 2017 results will be posted when they are released by the RDN.

Gord Almond has coordinated our Qualicum effort for a number of years calling on volunteers to assist him for a morning doing testing at our 9 locations.  It is great fun and takes you to creeks that many people don’t get to see.  Some can be difficult to access and require good foot ware and a comfort with the outdoors.