Environmental Trends 2007

Fresh Water

Overview - What is happening?

British Columbia has an abundance of water compared to other parts of the world. However, fresh water supplies in some parts of the province are under pressure from increasing population and economic activity.

Surface Water

  • Photo credit: Jared Hobbs
    In 2006, 51 per cent of the surface water sites monitored had a Water Quality Index rating of “good” or “excellent”, 39 per cent were “fair”, 10 per cent were “marginal” and none were rated as “poor.”

  • Results from long-term monitoring show that water quality improved at 34 per cent of sites, remained stable at 56 per cent of sites and deteriorated in 10 per cent of sites.

Groundwater

  • Between 2000 and 2006, about 35 per cent of the wells used to monitor ground water levels showed declining water levels mainly due to local pumping for industry, agriculture or drinking water.

  • Out of 815 aquifers (underground layers of rock and sand containing usable amounts of water) that have been mapped in B.C., 64 are rated as heavily developed. Most of these are on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and in the Southern Interior, where ground water withdrawal and urban development has been intensive.

  • Of the mapped aquifers, 28 are rated as highly vulnerable to contamination and 53 have documented quality concerns, such as salty water, nitrates, and arsenic.

Water Use

  • Residential use of municipal water decreased slightly from 465 litres per person per day in 1991 to 425 litres in 2004. This is still above the Canadian average of 329 litres per person per day.

These results confirm the need for careful stewardship of water resources to ensure the sustainability of our fresh water supply.

For detailed information, including graph data, see In-Depth Report [pdf].

Next: Water quality index for surface water bodies >>