Water Stewardship Information Sources
| Citation | Triton Environmental Consultants Ltd. 2006. Chapman Creek Source Assessment, Final Draft. Prepared for Sunshine Coast Regional District. |
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| Organization | Sunshine Coast Regional District |
| URL | http://www.healthspace.ca/Clients/VCHA/CoastGaribaldi/CoastGaribaldi_Website.nsf/e8db9633a9d595f988256b36000d14e7/8e03962e7f949d358825799f006abf2c/$FILE/chapman%20final%20draft%20source%20assessment,%20june%209,%202006.pdf |
| Abstract/Description or Keywords | Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, North Shore/Coast Garibaldi region pursuant to Section 18 and 19 of the Drinking Water Protection Act has directed the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) to conduct a Source Assessment of Chapman Creek watershed. The source assessment was to be completed following Modules 1, 2, 7 and 8 of the draft Comprehensive Drinking Water Source to Tap Assessment Guideline (the Guideline) (MHS & MWLAP, 2005). The objectives of the source assessment were to identify current and/or future drinking water health hazard(s), characterize the risk posed by each identified hazard and provide guidance for the development of a drinking water risk management strategy. The definition of hazards provided by the CCME (2004) guidance on the multi-barrier approach to safe drinking water and adopted in the context of this source assessment is: “a source of potential harm to the functioning of any aspect of the drinking water system or to human health”. Note a hazard can be pre-existing such as naturally occurring minerals, or potential such as landslide or flood events (CCME, 2004). Triton Environmental Consultants Ltd. (Triton) was retained to assist the SCRD in conducting this assessment. The assessment evaluated the untreated source water component of the public water system, before water passes through the intake and enters the Chapman Creek Water Treatment Plant (WTP), therefore this assessment is not a reflection of the quality of the tap water being provided by the SCRD to its consumers. The Sunshine Coast is located northwest of Vancouver, and is accessed by vehicle ferry from Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver (Figure 2-1). The SCRD provides drinking water to approximately 21,000 residents between Langdale and Earl’s Cove, including the District of Sechelt and bulkwater sales to the Town of Gibsons. Approximately 90% of the water supplied by the SCRD comes from the Chapman Creek watershed. In performing this source assessment the following four steps were completed in accordance with the Guideline (section numbers refer to sections of this report): 1. Module 1: Delineation and characterization of the drinking water source (Section 3.0); 2. Module 2: Inventory of contaminant sources and associated hazards (Section 4.0); 3. Module 7: Characterization of the risk posed by each identified hazard (Section 5.0); and, 4. Module 8: Development of a drinking water risk management strategy (Section 6.0). In Step 1 the source and assessment areas were delineated and the watershed was characterized according to its biogeophysical properties. Step 2 included conducting a contaminant source inventory by identifying past, existing and future land uses, human activities and other potential contaminant sources within the assessment area that could affect the water quality of Chapman Creek. Step 3 brought steps 1 and 2 together to characterize the risk posed by both natural and anthropogenic potential drinking water hazards identified in the source area. The final step provides guidance to develop a strategy specific to risk management within the source area to improve drinking water safety. The source assessment followed the methodology described in the draft Comprehensive Drinking Water Source to Tap Assessment Guideline (MHS & MWLAP, 2005) and in guidelines and protocols published by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2004 and 2005) and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHRMC, 2003). However, only modules relevant to the water source were considered. Other components of the water system such as the water treatment, storage and distribution were not included in the scope of this assessment. Figure 2-2 illustrates the scope of this assessment. The specific methodologies used for each of the four steps is described at the beginning of each respective section. |
| Information Type | report |
| Regional Watershed | Howe Sound & Sunshine Coast |
| Sub-watershed if known | Chapman Creek |
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