| Abstract/Description or Keywords |
Our water quality sampling program area includes the Township and City of Langley and 9 out of 11 watersheds within these municipalities. Our staff and trained community volunteers have sampled surface water since 2013 to determine the health of our watersheds at 43 sites across Langley. We test for water temperature, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients and hydraulic conductivity and compare them to the aquatic water guidelines of BC and Canada (depending on the parameter). LEPS hosts the database and it is currently updated and organized by LEPS staff which includes our data as well as historical data from various sources. The information is free to anyone, however you need to contact LEPS for the water quality information as it is not yet available on the internet. We are currently in conversation with several other partners to host an online database to house our water quality data; where it would be free to anyone looking for the information. Only LEPS staff would have access to change or update the data and permission would be needed to download the information. Our goal with the online database is to have a platform for residents to inquire about the health of their watersheds (educational tool), a way to start conversations about the importance of a healthy watershed and to determine how much data we have, from where and current gaps in the data collection. This would also help with stewardship groups or local volunteers to determine where help is needed and to prevent doubling-up on the data collection. |
