Whistler Valley Water Quality Monitoring Program: Preliminary Assessment
Whistler Valley
The River of Golden Dreams (ROGD) watershed encompasses approximately 48 square kilometres within the Whistler Valley, with a variety of land uses (e.g., residential and commercial development, transportation infrastructure, recreational use, etc.) occurring within the watershed. The watershed resources contribute significantly to the area's economy by attracting visitors interested in fishing, swimming, canoeing and other recreational opportunities. In December 2001, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) developed a Watershed Management Plan (WMP) for the ROGD. This plan defines a vision "to protect and restore aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems from the pressures of land use and human activities within the watershed". In working towards this vision, the WMP calls for increased information on baseline conditions and the detection of areas of concern — these will provide a foundation for effective mitigation.
River of Golden Dreams with
Whistler Mountain in Background
In 2002, the British Columbia Ministry of Environment(MoE) installed automated water
quality monitors on the ROGD and on Crabapple Creek, a tributary to ROGD. These
stations monitor stream temperature, conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen,
turbidity, and water level near-continuously. Automated temperature sensors
(thermistors) were installed in nearby Whistler Creek. The automated water
quality monitoring program is supplemented with grab-sampling for investigation
of a wider variety of parameters than can be conducted with automated monitoring
alone. The intent of the sampling program is to i) provide decision makers with
data to feedback into the ROGD Watershed Management Plan, and ii) collect data
for the development of Water Quality Objectives within the ROGD watershed.
Hydrolab Monitor at Crabapple Creek |
Hydrolab Monitor at River of Golden Dreams |
The objective of this report is to summarize and assess data collected to date, and to make recommendations on how monitoring might be improved so that the program meets its objectives.
The complete Whistler Valley water quality report is available here (PDF/2.09 MB/44 pages).
UPDATED: november 2005
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