The 2013 results of the Community Watershed Monitoring Program in the Regional District of Nanaimo were revealed this week. RDN Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Coordinator Julie Pisani says five stewardship groups have been tracking water quality trends over the last three years in places like French Creek, the Englishman River and the Little Qualicum River. Pisani says of the 26 sample sites, 7 tested slightly above recommended provincial guidelines for things like temperature and turbidity.
Pisani says those improvements could include planting more vegetation along the streams, to prevent erosion and offer shade to regulate the water temperature. By next year, five more stewardship groups will have collected three years’ worth of data from other local watersheds. She says all this work is giving the RDN a better sense of what’s going on in local creeks, streams and rivers, the majority of which are doing very well.
