A Day in the Life of a Water Quality Volunteer

At our annual Colquitz Coalition meeting a couple weeks ago, Goward Springs Steward Sarah HG gave a presentation on the group’s water quality (WQ) results in the watershed. In this post she takes us along on their recent January WQ outing. The group goes out once a month to collect measurements on dissolved oxygen, pH, water temperature, turbidity, electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids; they also collect water samples for fecal coliform analysis. Field WQ measurements are taken monthly at 8 sites: 4 tributaries flowing into Viaduct Flats, and 4 sites on Viaduct Creek/Goward A between Viaduct Flats and the Colquitz River. For an aerial of the Goward Springs Watershed, see the CRD Colquitz River Watershed map here…Goward Springs is SW of Beaver Lake. If you’re interested in joining them on a future trip or other volunteer activity, or would like more details about their WQ program, please contact them. Thanks for sharing, Sarah!

Today’s guest author Sarah Hudson-Gray would like to extend a special thanks to photographer Mike MacFarlane, WQ partner Lucy Bashford, and Al Rosenthal and Erin Jones for their help.

: 1) I begin water quality monitoring each month by calibrating the meters. Always interesting to see the state of my drinking water before heading into the watershed.

: 2) At Site 1: Cottage Creek we meet up with Al and Erin. New to water quality monitoring, they came along to see how it works and to have a nice walk on a Sunday morning.

: 3) I always love the company and help with writing down the measurements.

: 4) Probably the only use for a spoiler on a Neon: a nice, flat surface to measure turbidity with Secchi columns.

: 5) Lucy joins us for Site 2: Dugout Pond at the Horticultural Centre of the Pacific (HCP). This is one of the tributaries to Goward Springs.

: 6) At HCP, the deer keep trying to visit. They don’t even volunteer their time to the gardens.

: 7) I think Site 2 is below an owl tree, judging by the several sodden owl pellets.

: 8) Site 3: Viaduct Creek at the Lookout Parking Lot is on the mainstem above Viaduct Flats.

: 9) Viaduct Flats is a favourite place for bird watching. This platform is off of Interurban Road across from Viaduct Avenue.

: 10) Across Viaduct Flats can be glimpsed the Horticultural Centre of the Pacific.

: 11) At Site 4: Horse Bridge on Conway Creek we take the regular measurements, but we are observing this tributary especially since high fecal coliform counts have been detected here.

: 12) There are suds in evidence, but the electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids measurements taken do not indicate a problem.

: 13) Collected a sample for fecal coliform analysis.

: 14) It’s so wonderful to see Spring emerge. Such a blessing to see flowers bloom when the rest of Canada is descending into the coldest part of Winter.

: 15) At Site 5: South Weir on Viaduct Flats, Lucy and I pause to pose in our wellies.

: 16) Water is flowing over the North Weir as well as the South Weir. The system is designed to maintain the water level of Viaduct Flats between 26.7 and 26.8 metres above mean sea level.

: 17) At Site 6: Viaduct Creek, Downstream of the Confluence with Layritz Creek, it begins to rain.

: 18) Layritz Creek has a headcut that is eroding upstream toward Markham Road. The result is the input of fine sediment to Viaduct Creek, which has embedded the gravel substrate.

: 19) Site 7: Viaduct Creek Upstream of Quick’s Bottom is the last site that is decidedly part of the Goward Springs Watershed. It’s difficult to discern separate channels in the field of thick reed canary grass just downstream.

: 20) High water at Site 8: Viaduct Creek, Upstream of the Colquitz River confluence means that flows from the Colquitz River and Viaduct Creek may join somewhere in Quick’s Bottom. Hard to tell, but the Colquitz is visible as separate at this sampling point.