Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

Swain, L. G. (Leslie Grant), 1950-
Water quality assessment and objectives, for the Fraser River
from Hope to Sturgeon and Roberts Banks

Written by L. G. Swain. cf. Overview p. 14.
Consists of two parts: An overview and a report,
of which the overview is also available as a separate document.
Includes bibliographical references: p.
ISBN 0-7726-3706-7

1.  Water quality - British Columbia - Fraser River.
2.  Water Quality - British Columbia - Lower Mainland.
I.  British Columbia. Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks.
II. Title


TD227.F7S92 1998    363.739'42'097113    C98-960298-2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Disclaimer
• Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
• Summary
• Figure Map of the Fraser River from Hope to Sturgeon and Roberts Banks
• Tables
  • Table 1. Water Quality Objectives for the Fraser River from Hope to Sturgeon and Roberts Banks
  • Table 2. Maximum concentrations of total ammonia nitrogen for protection of freshwater aquatic life
  • Table 3. Average 30-day concentrations of total ammonia nitrogen for protection of freshwater aquatic life
  • Table 4. Maximum and 30-day average Nitrite concentrations to protect aquatic life
  • Table 5. Recommended Water Quality Monitoring for the Fraser River from Hope to the Sturgeon and Roberts Banks
  • Table 6. Water Quality Objectives for Tributaries to the Fraser River from Hope to Kanaka Creek
• Preface
• Introduction
• Hydrology
• Water Use
• Waste Water Discharges
• Water Quality Assessment
• Water Quality Objectives
• Monitoring Recommendations
• Glossary

SUMMARY

The Fraser River is home to both resident and anadromous species of fish. There are 20 species of resident fish documented in the Fraser River below Hope, and five Pacific salmon species which migrate up the river to spawn. The salmon runs are among the largest in the world, representing major commercial catches of all five Pacific species, important native food fisheries, and a significant sport fishery. Consistent achievement of Water Quality Objectives is critical for the sustainability and success of the Fraser's salmon resource.

The main sources of water contamination downstream from Hope are treated municipal-type discharges, discharges from various industrial operations, and non-point source discharges. Although the number of direct discharges to the river is greatest in the Main Arm, the contamination from such discharges is more severe in the North Arm due to its smaller river flow.

Water Quality Objectives have been recommended to protect aquatic life, wildlife, livestock watering, irrigation water supplies, and recreation, in all five reaches from Hope to the Sturgeon and Roberts Banks. As water uses change from one reach to another, Objectives and recommendations are based on the most sensitive use in that particular reach.

PREFACE

Water quality objectives are being jointly prepared by Environment Canada and the Ministry of Environment, Lands, and Parks, as part of their respective mandates for responsible water resource management. Objectives are prepared only for those waterbodies and water quality characteristics that may be affected by human activity, either now or in the future.

Water quality objectives are numerical concentrations or narrative statements which have been established to support and protect the most sensitive designated use of water at a specified site (BCMOELP 1986; CCREM 1987). They are derived from the guidelines and criteria by considering local water quality, water uses, water movement, waste discharges and other factors.

Water quality objectives are based on the best scientific information available at the time the objectives are developed. When insufficient information exists, provisional water quality objectives may be applied until the data required to develop permanent water quality objectives are available. Provisional objectives are deliberately conservative. To facilitate the establishment of permanent objectives, a monitoring or study program is usually recommended to fill any data gaps that are identified.

Water quality objectives are set to protect the most sensitive designated water use at a specific location. Designated uses of water include the following:

• raw drinking water, public water supply, and food processing;
• fish, other aquatic life, and wildlife;
• agriculture (livestock watering and irrigation);
• recreation and aesthetics; and,
• industrial water supplies.

Each objective for a location may be based on the protection of a different water use, depending on the uses that are most sensitive to the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics affecting that waterbody.

Water quality objectives are important water management tools because they provide policy direction for resource managers with respect to the protection of water uses in specific waterbodies. Objectives provide benchmarks for evaluating water quality, issuing wastewater discharge permits, dispersing water withdrawal licences and orders, and managing fisheries and the province's land base. They also provide reference points against which the state of water quality can be checked and help to determine whether additional management actions are needed to protect and/or restore the designated water uses in a particular waterbody.

INTRODUCTION

Others that may find the information useful include habitat biologists, and environmental and water quality specialists. The public will also find the Water Quality Objectives useful for assessing the health of their environment, articulating concerns about existing uses of resources in their environment, and monitoring the performance of various government agencies cooperating in maintaining acceptable high levels of water quality in the Fraser River Basin.

Profile of the Fraser River from Hope to Sturgeon and Roberts Banks

HYDROLOGY

At the New Westminster trifurcation, the river flow divides, with about 15% entering the North Arm, 79% entering the Main Arm and the remaining 6% entering Annacis Channel. In the North Arm itself, 45% of the flow enters the Middle Arm.

Tidal action influences water movement and residence times in the lower reaches of the Fraser River. Tidal mixing and salinity intrusions change on seasonal and daily time schedules. Tides in the estuary are semi-diurnal. Furthermore, during freshet conditions from May to August, a distinct salt wedge is confined to the outer 10 km of the estuary. When runoff conditions are moderate to low, salt wedge intrusion can extend as far as 15 to 30 km inland. Tidal mixing and salinity intrusions are important factors in the fate, behaviour, and distribution of contaminants in the lower Fraser River. Water Quality Objectives must be developed in view of such influences in order to be sufficiently protective of all designated resource uses.

WATER USES

Due to the variances in the economic land use of the Fraser River area, agricultural water use (i.e. irrigation or livestock watering) is more common from Hope to the trifurcation, while industrial water use is more prevalent along the North and Main Arms.

Aquatic use of the Fraser River from Hope to the Banks is apparent and evidenced by fish and benthic invertebrate fauna. In addition to salmon, the Fraser River supports a great diversity of resident and migratory fish populations as well benthic invertebrates. Because aquatic life is generally the most sensitive water use along the length of the Fraser from Hope to the Banks, it forms the basis for most of the Objectives which are set.

WASTE WATER DISCHARGES

Although not covered by permits, there are many non-point agricultural discharges along the more rural areas of the river between Hope and the trifurcation. These generate increased nutrient and bacteriological loadings to the river. Other non-point discharges occur as leachate from more than 30 industrial and domestic-type landfills adjacent to, or at some distances from, the banks of the river. The larger landfills often have leachate collection and treatment facilities before discharging to the river. However, surface water is usually allowed to flow untreated. Potential contamination from landfills covers a broad spectrum from metals to toxic substances and various organic and inorganic chemicals. Another non-point discharge discussed in this report is the leachate from over 22 infiltration ponds and septic tanks permitted along the river from Hope to the Banks. The contamination from these sources is usually minor but the actual impact will depend on the nature of the discharge and the degree of treatment prior to discharge to the land.

Non-point source discharges downstream from Kanaka Creek are usually typical of the urban setting. There are well over 100 storm water discharges and combined sewer overflows to the river. These discharges transport metals from tire wear and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from unburned fossil fuels, as well as lesser amounts of other contaminants.

Most of the industrial-type discharges are concentrated in the Main and North Arms, with the contamination most severe in the North Arm. Some sources of these industrial-type discharges are fish processing plants which discharge very high concentrations of nutrients directly to the river, foundries which may be releasing dissolved metals and suspended solids, and paper mills which often have effluents containing inorganics and organics.

The largest loading of contaminants to Sturgeon and Roberts Banks potentially comes form the contaminants carried by the Fraser River itself which can be deposited under certain situations on the Banks. In the past, the largest discharge was from the Iona STP; however, a long sea outfall now carries these primary treated wastes into deeper waters of the Strait of Georgia. Presently, the Roberts Bank Coal Port is the source for some non-point source contaminants, especially PAHs associated with coal.

There are many other sources of effluent discharges to the river, with varying degrees of contamination potential. Some of these include wash down water from petroleum bulk storage facilities and concrete plants, backwash water from a gas compressor station, tank filtration water from fish farms and storm water runoff from limestone plants. All of these effluent sources must be analyzed and considered when setting objectives for a particular reach, in order to specify their potential threat to the specific water uses of the reach and to develop Water Quality Objectives for appropriate water bodies.

Since 1985 when the first Water Quality Objectives for this area of the Fraser River were established, several significant changes have taken place with respect to waste discharges. The deep sea outfall from the Iona STP was newly established at that time; however, little information was yet available about its effects. We now know that effects are minor, if any and concentrated very close to the discharge pipes themselves. The Annacis and Lulu STP discharges are being upgraded to secondary treatment levels from primary. Several industrial operations which discharged to the river have subsequently closed, including Western Canada Steel, Chatterton Chemicals, and Doman Forest Products. As well, lead has been eliminated as an additive to gasoline (replaced by manganese) while a Regulation under the Waste Management Act has greatly reduced the discharge of chlorophenols to the river. Many contaminated sites have also been rehabilitated, including those at Noranda (PCB's) and White Pine (creosote). There has also been a great increase in the urbanized area resulting in greater flows from the sewage treatment facilities and stormwater.

Water Quality Assessment and Objectives

WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT

Tidal influences play an important role in the distribution of contaminated sediments in the Fraser River. Reduced flows allow finer-sized sediment particles, which adsorb higher concentrations of organics, to settle out. The highest concentrations of organochlorine compounds in sediments from upstream pulp and paper operations are found at sites downstream from Hope, likely due to slower river velocities in this area.

Fish tissue analyses indicated some high arsenic and cadmium concentrations. There are no guidelines for human consumption so that it cannot be determined if these high levels are a concern. Lead concentrations seem to be decreasing due to the elimination of leaded gasoline. Manganese concentrations were higher in fish from the Main Arm than in those from other reaches while chromium concentrations were higher in fish from the North Arm. The data indicated that the elimination of mercury is faster than any uptake, resulting in no accumulation. Some PCBs were measurable in fish from the North Arm where historic discharges have taken place, but the concentrations were not of concern.

Benthic fauna analyses indicated that both abundance and biodiversity were greater downstream toward the urban and industrial centres of the North and Middle Arms. In contrast, the number of sensitive taxa of benthos decreased significantly toward these centres. This change means that some impacts from human activities are being measured in the downstream reaches. Because there are no federal guidelines or provincial guidelines for the interpretation of most contaminant concentrations in tissues, tissue chemistry was simply reported but not evaluated for effects on designated water uses.

WATER QUALITY OBJECTIVES

Depending on the circumstances, Water Quality Objectives may already be met in a water body, or may describe water quality conditions which can be met in the future. To limit the scope of the work, Objectives are currently being prepared only for water bodies and for water quality characteristics which may be affected by human activity now and in the foreseeable future.

Designated water uses for all five reaches of the Fraser River from Hope to the Sturgeon and Roberts Banks are for the protection of aquatic life, wildlife, recreation, livestock watering, and irrigation. On Sturgeon and Roberts Banks, designated water uses are protection of aquatic life and wildlife, and primary-contact recreation.

Water Quality Objectives which are based on approved or draft BC water quality guidelines include those for suspended solids, dissolved oxygen, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, zinc, PCBs, PAHs, dioxins and furans, chlorophenols, microbiological indicators, ammonia, nitrite and pH. The objectives are required to ensure that inputs from non-point source discharges, and point sources such as pulp and paper mills and sewage treatment plants do not impair water uses. An objective is proposed for pH as a range of values. The upper value will control the formation of toxic quantities of ammonia. In the estuary area, the Objectives for some PAHs in sediments are based on the likely presence of salt water in the pores of the sediment.

Water Quality Objectives which came into effect in 1985 for the tributaries to the Fraser River between Hope and Kanaka Creek are included as Table 6 in this document. No effort has been made in the technical appendix to rationalize these; however, values have been revised to reflect new guidelines which have been developed for the contaminants of concern.

MONITORING RECOMMENDATIONS

WATER QUALITY OBJECTIVES AND MONITORING TABLES

To protect water uses in a waterbody, objectives specify a range of values for characteristics (variables) that may affect these uses. These values are maximum and/or minimum values that are not to be exceeded.

Some readers may be unfamiliar with terms such as: maximum concentration, 30-day average concentration, 90th percentile, and not applicable (NA). Maximum concentration means that a value for a specific variable should not be exceeded; 30-day average concentration means that a value should not be exceeded during a period of 30 days, when five or more samples are collected at approximately equal time intervals. The term 90th percentile indicates that 9 out of 10 values should be less than a particular value. Not applicable (NA) means that water uses are not threatened for that particular variable.