ID | 1452 |
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Citation | Phippen, B. 2008. Water quality in British Columbia: Objectives Attainment in 2006. BC Ministry of Environment |
Organization | Ministry of Environment |
URL | http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wat/wq/attain_pdf/06_attain_report.pdf |
Abstract/Description or Keywords | The setting of water quality objectives in priority basins in British Columbia began in 1982. By the end of 2006, the Ministry of Environment had set water quality objectives in 51 areas or basins and updated them in two, both fresh and marine, throughout the Province. Annual monitoring to check the attainment of objectives started in 1987. This report presents the results of monitoring done to check the attainment of objectives in 20 basins in 2006. The results are summarized in a series of tables. For all Ministry Regions the objectives were met 92.7 percent of the time in 2006. The findings in 2006 are to those seen in 2006 (92.6%), and similar to previous years when attainment ranged from 95 percent in 1998 to 77 percent in 1997. However, the annual percentages represent monitoring in different watersheds from year to year, as well as for different parameters each year, making a comparison from one year to the next difficult. There was not 100 percent attainment because objectives are set in areas where water quality problems may occur. Monitoring results therefore reflect the state of water quality in areas affected by human activity rather than in the Province as a whole. Variables for which objectives were sometimes not met in three or more basins in the 2006 sampling program included fecal coliforms, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, total copper, chromium in sediments, copper in sediments, lead in sediments, and mercury in sediments. As not all parameters were measured in each watershed, and as only a limited number of watersheds were sampled in 2006, the list of objectives not attained would likely be considerably longer if attainment monitoring were to be conducted for all parameters and in all watersheds for which water quality objectives have been established. |
Information Type | report |
Regional Watershed | All |
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Project status | complete |
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