Water Quality Assessment and Objectives Desolation Sound. Technical Report

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I Water Quality Assessment and Objectives I

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A Desolation Sound. A

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Q Technical Report Q

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Prepared by: N N

Burke Phippen E E

BWP Consulting & M M

Elizabeth Freyman

Ministry of Environment N N

O Prepared for: O

R Environmental Quality Section R

Environmental Protection Division I

Lower Mainland Region V

BC Ministry of Environment N N

October 2005 E E be be betterunderstood,anddecisionsregarding understood format,andonanongoingbasis,itishopedt government, otherstakeholdersandthepublicatlarge. ( to publishwater,groundwaterandai Lower MainlandRegionalOffice,oftheMinistryEnvi This reportisoneinaseriesofwater,groundwater http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/sry/p2/eq/index.htm

made.

r qualityreportsonourwebsite ) inordertoprovidetheinformationindustryandlocal P REFACE , andairqualityreportsthatarebeingissuedbythe

water, groundwaterandairqualitymanagementcan Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound ronment. ItistheintentionofRegionalOffice Byprovidingsuchinformationinareadily hat localenvironmentalqualityconditionscan

Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page ii

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY P S protection ofthemostsensitivewateruse. nature oftheseeffectsandtodetermineattainment the datausedinthisreportislimited,additionalsa by humanactivitynoworinthenearfuture. Objectives arepreparedonlyforthosewaterbodiesand waters ofBritishColumbiaasparttheMinist Water qualityobjectivesarepreparedforspecificbodies potentially dischargingwastesdirectly concern aretherelativelyhighconcentrations There areavarietyofhumanactivitiesinthewa aquatic healthwhichincludestheabilityfors Canadian ShellfishSanitationProgram.WaterQuality Objectives arenotusedforshellfishclassificati to protectaquaticlifeandprimary-c recommendations andobjectivespresentedinthis the detailsofwaterqualityassessmentfor includes tableslistingwaterqualityobjectivesand readers andforwhomaynotbefamiliarwitht provides generalinformationaboutwaterqualityint has twoparts:thisovervi This documentisoneinaseriesthatpresentsambi A designatedwateruseis one thatisprotected Water qualityobjectivesare settoprotectthemosts socio-economic factors. from thecriteriabyconsideringlocalwaterqualit Objectives areestablishedinBritishColumbiafor biological characteristicsofwater, quality guidelines.Watercriteriaandguidelines Water qualityobjectivesarebasedontheBCapproved REFACE UMMARY H P URPOSE OF OW OW O BJECTIVES

W ATER ATER A RE Q ew, whichisavailableasaseparatedoc UALITY D ETERMINED O BJECTIVES biota(plantandanimallife)orsedimentwhichprotect wateruse. ontact recreationinDesolationSound.ProvincialWaterQuality intotheSound,especiallyembayed

hellfish growingandharvestingvalues. of recreationalboatersutilizingDesolationSoundand these waterbodiesandformsthebasisof ry ofEnvironment’smandatetomanagewaterquality. on andharvestingwhichisthemandateoffederal in agivenlocationandisone ofthefollowing: tershed whichcoulddegradewaterquality.Ofprimary y, wateruses,movement,wastedischarges,and waterbodies onasite-specif mpling wouldberequiredtomorefullydocumentthe recommended monitoring.Themainreportpresents overview. Waterqualityobjectivesarerecommended ent waterqualityobjectivesforBritishColumbia.It of thewaterqualityobjectivesspecifiedfor he DesolationSound.Itisintendedforbothtechnical ensitive designatedwateruse ataspecificlocation. Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound he processofsettingwaterqualityobjectives.It Objectives, rather,areusedasanindicatorfor are safelimitsofthephysical,chemical,or and workingcriteriaaswellnationalwater water qualitycharacteristicsthatmaybeaffected offresh,estuarineandcoastalmarinesurface ument, andthefullreport.Thisoverview areas withlimitedflushing.As ic basis.Theyarederived Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page iii

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY harvest shellfish. a healthyaquaticenvironmentwhichincludesthesafe us waterbody. the CanadianShellfishSanitationProgram(CSSP).T It isimportanttonotethatthesanitarywaterqualit Act regulations. regulation, suchastheForestPracticesCodeAc objectives becomelegallyenforceablewhenincludedas uses. Whilewaterqualityobjectiveshavenolegal Water qualityobjectivesarealsoastandardforassessi and helptodeterminewhetherbasin-widewa provide areferenceagainstwhichthestateofwate permits, licensesandorders,themanagementoffis from theCSSP.ProvincialWaterQualit Therefore, anyinformationrelatedto (PSP). poisoning Inspection Agency(CFIA)regularly contaminated areasaswellpostingandpatrolli based onthesurveyresults.TheD the waterqualityofgrowingareasandforclassifying CSSP, EnvironmentCanada’sShellfishWaterQuality of FisheriesandOceans,theCanadianFoodInspec uses thataremostsensitiveto Each objectiveforalocationmaybebasedonthepr water usesinspecificwaterbodi Water qualityobjectivesroutinelyprovidepolicydire H OW OW industrial watersupplies. recreation andaesthetics agriculture (livestockwateringandirrigation) aquatic lifeandwildlife raw drinkingwater,publicwatersupply,andfoodprocessing O BJECTIVES A RE U SED the physical,chemicalorbiologica

es. Objectivesguidetheevaluation tests molluscanbivalvetissuefort epartment ofFisheriesandOceansis shellfish classification y Objectives,ontheotherhand,areusedas ter qualitystudiesshouldbeinitiated. t, WaterActregulationsorEnvironmentalManagement standingandarenotdire y ofshellfishgrowingareasinCanadaareassessedby ng closedareas.UndertheCSSP,CanadianFood r qualityinaparticularwaterbodycanbechecked, ction forresourcemanagerstheprotectionof tion AgencyandEnvironmentCanada.Underthe otection ofadifferentwateruse,dependingonthe these areaswithrespect Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound he CSSPisjointlyadminis Protection Programisresponsibleformonitoring ng theMinistry'sperformanceinprotectingwater heries andtheprovince'slandbase.Theyalso arequirementofpermit,license,order,or e ofthatwaterbodyfortheabilitytogrowand and shellfish harvestingapproval l characteristicsaffectingthat of waterquality,theissuing he presenceofparalyticshellfish responsible forformallyclosing ctly enforced,these to shellfishharvesting tered bytheDepartment Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower indicators must come toprotect Surrey, B.C. Page iv

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY mean value,maximumvalue). Canadian ShellfishSanitationProgram,see: being protected.Monitoringforshellfishclassi Monitoring (sometimescalledsampling)isundertaken Water qualityobjectivesareestablishedtoprotect uses areprotectedatthecritical water qualityobjectivesmaynotbemeti.e.worst-case Monitoring usuallytakesplaceatacriticaltime problem, severityofthreatstodesignatedwater For somewaterbodies,themonitoringperiodandfrequencymayvary,dependinguponnatureof worst, aswelltheaverageconditioninwater. The monitoringusuallytakesplaceduringafiveweek less. O BJECTIVES AND M ONITORING

time, thentheyalsowillbeprotected www.pyr.ec.gc.ca/en/s fication isconductedunderaseparatemandatebythe when awaterqualityspecialisthasdeterminedthatthe uses, andthewayobjectivesareexpressed( all useswhichmaytakeplaceinawaterbody. Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound period, whichallowsthes to determineifallthedesignatedwaterusesare scenario.Itisassumedthatifalldesignatedwater hellfish/index.shtml at othertimeswhenthethreatis pecialists tomeasurethe Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower . Surrey, B.C. i.e. Page v ,

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY W factors, coupledwiththemany maximum amplitudesofabout 5metres,andcurrents to theSoundthathavealargeimpactonflushingrates This reportfocusesonthemarinewatersofDesolati on landuseinfluences,andestablishmentofwaterqualit determination oflanduseactivitiesthatmayinfl The projectconsistedoffivephas sources ofpollutiontomarinewaters. at refillingstationsonprivatedo discharges frompleasurecraftandresi Potential impactstowaterqualityinDesolati watershed. sensitive toimpactsthatmightoccurmarinewa ability forshellfishgrowingandharvestingmarineaquat aquatic lifeandwildlife,thedesignatedwaterusesar As theprimarywaterusesforDesolation tenures havebeenissuedforthearea. harvesting areimportanteconomicactivitiesthr Park, RoscoeBayProvincialandMalaspinaPr boaters, andincludestheDesolationSoundMarineProvin southern endofEastRedondaIsland(Figure4).Th area betweenWestRedondaIslandandtheMalaspi (Figure 1).However,thisreportwillfocusprimar waters eastofCortesIsland,extendingfromOkeover of thesoundarenotprecise,butforpurposes west coastoftheBCmainlandoppositeCampbellRi This reportassessesselectedembayedareaswithin considered. data collectedbetween1999and2004,althoughwater qua I ATERSHED NTRODUCTION H YDROLOGY

P ROFILE

embayments thatmakeDesolati cks. Increasesinuplanddevelopmentcouldleadtoincreasednon-point

es: waterqualitydatacollection,gat dences, aswellfrompossiblef on Soundareprimarilylinkedtountreatedsewage Sound areforrecreationalpurposes,maricultureand oughout theSound,andalargenumberofmariculture uence waterquality,assessmentofqualitybased ily onthesouthernportionofDesolationSound,in ter quality,basedonexistingactivitieswithinthe of thisreport,DesolationSounddescribesthemarine is areaapopulardestinationforrecreational on Sound.Therearenomajorfreshwatertributaries na Peninsula,andboundedtothenorthby theDesolationSoundarea,amarineinleton ovincial Park.Aswell,shellfishfarmingand ver onVancouverIsland(Figure1).Theboundaries e primary-contactrecreationandaesthetics,the Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound InletinthesouthtoRazaPassagenorth are generallyweakthroughout theSound.These or watermovement.Tidesaremixeddiurnalwith y objectives.Thisr cial Park,Tux’wnechOkeoverArmProvincial lity datafromasearly1980isalso ic life.Thesearetheusesthatmost on Soundapopularboating destination hering informationonwateruse, uel spillsfrompleasurecraftor eport isbasedprimarilyon Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page vi

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY W objective willprotectprimary c should notexceed200MPN/100mLforfecalcolifor or typicalbathingareas,thegeometricmeanofatl Plan (MSRM2004).Forareaswheres all goodormedium,beachdeepwatershellfishcapab concentrations notexceeding230fecalcoliformsper 100 enterococci. Inaddition,shellfishharvestedfrom a 30-dayperiodshouldnotexceed43MPN/100mL wildlife. shellfish growingandharvesting,primary-contac The primarywaterusesinDesolationSoundarefor and 4MPN/100mLforenterococci.Similarly,the90 least fivesamplescollectedwithina30-dayperiod parameters maybesymptomaticofimpactedwateruses. A waterqualityobjectivehasbeenproposedforfecal allowing contaminantstoaccumulate. and provideshelteredareasformariculturetenures,resu exceeded onafewoccasions. occasional highvaluescausedtheguidelinesfort residences. Whilefecalcoliformandenterococciconcent as fecalcoliformsandenterococci,fromuntreated quality parametersmostlikelytobeimpactedbyhumanac reflect thenaturalgeomorphologyofarearather but therearenoanthropogenicsourcesofthesemetals Sediment samplesoftencontainedrelativelyhighc this study.Nutrientlevelsweregenerallyverylow, Water qualitythroughoutDesolationSoundisgenerally ATER W W W ATER ATER ATER ATER U Q Q Q SES UALITY UALITY UALITY

O A SSESSMENT BJECTIVES A SSESSMENT AND ontact recreation(swimming) thatmightoccurinthoseareas.

hellfish harvestingisnotfeasib t recreationandaesthetics,marineaquaticlife withinDesolationSoundmusthavefecalcoliform he abilityforshellfishgrowingandharvestingtobe andtherewerenoelevatedconcentrationsofmetals. sewage dischargeddirectlyfrompleasurecraftand east fivesamplescollectedwithina30-dayperiod oncentrations ofarsenic, should notexceed14MPN/100mLforfecalcoliforms forfecalcoliformsand11MPN/100mL thanimpactsfromhumanactivities.Thewater ms and20MPN/100mLforenterococci.This mariculture activitiesandincludingtheabilityfor th Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound coliforms andenterococci,astheseindicator percentileofatleastfivesamplescollectedwithin O goodformostparametersmeasuredaspartof within thewatershedanditisthoughtthatthey ility areasasdefinedintheMalaspinaCoastal lt inlowflushingratesmanyareas,potentially BJECTIVES rations weregenerallylowatmostmarinesites, grams ofwetweight.Theseguidelinesapplyto Theobjectiveisthemedianconcentrationofat tivities arethebacteriologicalindicatorssuch le butthatincludebathingbeaches

cadmium, zincandcopper, Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page vii

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Enterococci Fecal coliforms water uses Designated Characteristics Table 0-1.Summary ofWaterQuality Objectives proposedforDesolationSound. recommended toidentifywhetherconditions to mariculturetenures.Monitoringofsedimentbac Roscoe Bay),aswellinrepres popular moorages(GalleyBay,PrideauxHaven, water qualityobjectivesaremostlikelytobeexceeded. period, ideallyduringthesummermonthsofJuly We recommendthatwatersamplesbecollectedonanannualbasis,atleastfivetimeswithina30-day M ONITORING R ECOMMENDATIONS Less thanorequalto11MPN/100mL90 Less thanorequalto43MPN/100mL90 shellfish growing andharvesting,marine Less thanorequalto14MPN/100mL Less thanorequalto4MPN/100mL For theprotectionofabilityfor (not shellfishclassification) Growing/Harvesting Areas Desolation SoundShellfish entative areasthroughoutGreaterDe

aquatic lifeandwildlife median concentration median concentration percentile percentile are improvingorworseningovertime. … … TenedosBay,RefugeCove,GraceHarbourand

andAugustasthisappearstobethetimewhen teriology, chemistryandtoxi Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound Samplesshouldbecollectedineachofthemost solation Soundincloseproximity th th

MPN/100 mLgeometric Less thanorequalto20 aquatic lifeandwildlife city inembayedareasis Less thanorequalto recreation, marine 200 MPN/100mL Desolation Sound Primary-contact geometric mean Bathing Areas Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower mean Surrey, B.C. Page viii

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 5.0. 4.0. 3.0. 2.0. 1.0. A L L T W W I P S P NTRODUCTION IST OF IST OF ABLE OF CKNOWLEDGEMENTS REFACE UMMARY REFACE ATER ATERSHED

4.4. 4.3. 4.2. 4.1. 3.4. 3.3. 3.2. 3.1. 1.3. 1.2. 1.1. M W W W H O H H P D I W H I T NFLUENCES ON NTRODUCTION URPOSE OF YDROLOGY OW OW BJECTIVES AND ESCRIPTION OF YDROLOGY AND ONITORING ATER ATER ATER ATER ABLE OF Q T F

W F L R D W F R D W B

ABLES IGURES UALITY O O C AND OREST ISHERIES ACKGROUND ECREATION ESIGNATED ECREATION ESCRIPTION OF ILDLIFE ILDLIFE ATER BJECTIVES BJECTIVES ONTENTS Q Q U U P SES UALITY UALITY SES O

ROFILE

WNERSHIP Q

A H R W

SSESSMENT AND UALITY ARVESTING AND

ECOMMENDATIONS ATER W

C O A W M

P W A A

SSESSMENT ATER BJECTIVES ONITORING RECIPITATION ONTENTS ATER RE RE ATER Q O W

UALITY U D BJECTIVES ATERSHED Q SED ETERMINED Q U UALITY UALITY SES

F O 8 BJECTIVES OREST 4 9 BJECTIVES

M – 3

B ONITORING ASIC R OADS

HILOSOPHY 10 P ROJECT Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound 2 10 Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page ix VIII 10 VII VII VII VII XI XI IX VI VI VI IV III III III III 1 5 2 9 2 6 5 9 8 V II

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY B. A. L 8.0. 7.0. 6.0. ITERATURE

A A

B3. B2. B1. 2004. 6.6. 6.5. 6.4. 6.3. 6.2. 6.1. 5.2. 5.1. PPENDIX PPENDIX S M W ...GetrDslto on ou ra 19 15 6.2.3. GreaterDesolationSoundFocusArea 6.2.2. FocusAreaA 6.2.1. FocusAreaB 6.1.4. HistoricalData 6.1.3. GreaterDesolationSoundFocusArea 6.1.2. FocusAreaA 6.1.1. FocusAreaB UMMARY OF ONITORING ATER

G F F S M T T N C Q W OCUS OCUS REATER OTAL EMPERATURE EDIMENT UTRIENTS OLIFORM BACTERIA UALITY ETALS ATER Q C B. A. UALITY ITED

S A A S S S

USPENDED REA REA R A UMMARY OF UMMARY OF P AMPLING D

SSURANCE C ECOMMENDATIONS ROPOSED ESOLATION (N OMPOSITION A A B SSESSMENT AND ITRATE

P S ROCEDURES

W , OLIDS W QA/QC / N

S Q ATER ATER AND ITRITE AND OUND 21 UALITY 20 Q 24

D F UALITY O ATA C OCUS 10 BJECTIVES ONTROL S P EDIMENT (D HOSPHORUS O A UPLICATES REA BJECTIVES 11 13 77 Q UALITY Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound , ) 18

T 25 RIPLICATES AND D ATA 46 F IELD B LANKS Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower )

1999

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Surrey, B.C. Page x 32 26 20 13 19 68 46 19 18 16 15 14

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Table 8-1.SummaryofWater Quality Table 6-4.Summaryofsediment qualityguideli Table 6-3.SummaryofCanadianSedim Table 6-2.Comparisonoftotalmetalsconcentrati Table 6-1.Summaryofmedianand90thpercentiles fo Table 3-2.Summaryofmariculturetenures Table 3-1.Summaryofmonthlyboatcountsfor Table 2-2.Depthsofvariousbasinsandsills Table 2-1.Averagemonthlyprecipitationmeasuredas Table 0-1.SummaryofWaterQualityOb Figure 5.MapshowingDesolationS Figure 4.MapshowingDesolationS Figure 3.DepartmentofFisheries Figure 2.Comparisonofdailyaveragetemperatur Figure 1Desolation on,19 o20 fo CPrs 05pr.cm.. 6 17 5 Each valueisbasedonfivesamplescollectedbetween thedatesindicated. Sound, 1998to2003(fromBCParks,2005pers.comm.). Canada PrecipitationData,1976to2000). 1990). Water SurveyC weather stationonCortesIsland)withdailyav Desolation Sound. (Source: MAFF,2005). 01adMLP19) 21 2001 andMWLAP1998). and workingwaterqualityguidelinesfortheprotec Sound Overvi anada stati n...... on). wMp ...... ew Map. and OceansFisheries ound areawithFocus ound areawithFocus betvspooe o eoainSud 25 Objectives proposedforDesolation Sound. ent QualityGuidelines(fromNagpal etvspooe o eoainSud viii jectives proposedforDesolationSound. L L IST OF for DesolationSound(PFMA15-05)asofJanuary2005 IST OF within DesolationSound(CanadianHydrographicService ne exceedencesforsediment samplescollectedin various ProvincialParksinandaroundDesolation ons measuredatDesolationCentralsitewithapproved e andprecipitation(measuredatEnvironmentCanada erage flowratesontheTheodosiaRiver(measuredat Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound F rainandsnowatCortesIsland,BC(Environment T r samplescollectedattheFocusAreaBsites. tion ofmarineaquaticlife(fromNagpaletal. IGURES ABLES Management Ar Area Bsi Area Asi

tes...... 31 tes...... 30 ea 15. et al...... 29 01. 22 , 2001). Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C...... 28 ...... 27 Page xi 23 5 8

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY al -6 Smayo ae ult aaCletda ieE463 eod a. 69 Table B-18.SummaryofSediment QualityDa Table B-17.SummaryofSediment QualityDa Table B-16.SummaryofWaterQualityDataCollected atSiteE248643,RedondaBay. Table B-15.SummaryofWaterQualityData Table B-14.SummaryofWaterQualityData Table B-13.SummaryofWaterQualityData Table B-12.SummaryofSedimentQualityDa Table B-11.SummaryofSedimentQuality Table B-10.SummaryofSedimentQuality Table B-9.SummaryofSedimentQualityDa 54 Table B-8.SummaryofSedimentQuality Table B-7.SummaryofWaterQualityData 43 Table B-6.SummaryofWaterQualityData 47 Table B-5.SummaryofWaterQualityDataCollectedatSiteE248638,RefugeCove. 46 37 Table B-4.SummaryofWaterQualityDa 39 Table B-3.SummaryofWaterQualityData Table B-2.SummaryofWaterQualityDataCollectedatSiteE248635,TenedosBay. Table B-1.SummaryofWaterQualityDataCollectedatSiteE248633,GalleyBay. Table A-10.Summaryofreplicate 34 Table A-9.Summaryofduplicatewaterdatacollectedin2004. 35 Table A-8.Summaryofreplicate Table A-7.Summaryofduplicatewatersamplescollectedin2003. Table A-6.Summaryofduplicates 33 32 Table A-5.Summaryoffieldblankscollectedin2002. Table A-4.Summaryofduplicateandtriplicatewatersamplescollectedin2002. Table A-3.Summaryoftriplicatesedimentsamplescollectedin2000. Table A-2.Summaryoftriplicatebacteriologicalwatersamplescollectedin2000. Table A-1.Summaryoftriplicatebacteriologicalwatersamplescollectedin1999. eietsmlscletdi 03 40 sediment samplescollectedin2003. eietsmlscletdi 04 44 sediment samplescollectedin2004. dmn ape olce n20. 38 ediment samplescollectedin2002. aCletda ieE467 oceBy 51 ta CollectedatSiteE248637,RoscoeBay. aaCletda ieE465 eeo a. 60 Data CollectedatSiteE248635,TenedosBay. aaCletda ieE468 eueCv. 65 63 Data CollectedatSiteE248638,RefugeCove. Data CollectedatSiteE248637,RoscoeBay. Cletda ieE461 rc abu. 59 CollectedatSiteE248651,GraceHarbour. 48 CollectedatSiteE248636,PrideauxHaven. olce tSt 283,Dslto ot. 56 Collected atSiteE248639,DesolationSouth. Cletda ieE462 two a. 68 CollectedatSiteE248642,AttwoodBay. Cletda ieE461 obsBy 68 68 CollectedatSiteE248641,ForbesBay. CollectedatSiteE248640,TeakerneArm. aCletda ieE466 rdaxHvn 61 ta CollectedatSiteE248636,PrideauxHaven. aCletda ieE461 obsBy 71 70 ta CollectedatSiteE248641, ForbesBay. ta CollectedatSiteE248634, PendrellSound. 66 ta CollectedatSiteE248651,GraceHarbour. Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page xii

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Table B-23.SummaryofSedimentQualityData Table B-22.SummaryofWaterQualityData Table B-21.SummaryofWaterQualityData Table B-20.SummaryofSedimentQuality Table B-19.SummaryofSedimentQualityDa 18, 2002 aaCletda ieE463 eod a. 75 Data CollectedatSiteE248643,RedondaBay. CletdTruhu rae eoainSud 77 CollectedThroughoutGreaterDesolationSound. olce tSt 284,Tb ne ot. 77 Collected atSiteE248645,TobaInletSouth. aCletda ieE462 two a. 73 ta CollectedatSiteE248642,AttwoodBay. CollectedThroughoutGreaterDesolationSound,July Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page xiii 78

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY statistics. ThankstoGeorgiaCombes(B information onpermitteddischarges,andKerryMa Squamish providedboatcountsforthemarineparks, samples werecollectedbyMOEstafffromthe analytical labandhelpedcoordinatevolunteersamp Sliammon TreatySocietystaff:Cathy,Eversonand A numberofpeoplecontributedtothecollecti A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS C Parks)forherreviewandcomments. Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound on ofdatausedinthisreport.LauraRoddanand Surrey office.DylanEyersofBCParksin

rcus ofDFONanaimoprovidedwild-catch ling efforts.Otherwaterandallsediment Anthony assistedwithsampledeliverytothe JeffvanHaastregtofMOESurreyprovided

Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page 1

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY active marinelogdumps),andmaricultureoperations. recreation (includingcampgroundsandhikingtrails) to waterusesincludedischargesfrompleasure aquatic life,wildlife,andculturallysignificantFirs BC. Otherimportantvaluesincludemariculture Desolation Soundisanimportantrecreationalboati of thedatausedinthisassessm mainland northofPowellRiver,andoppositeCampbe and assessesthewaterqualityofDesolationS assessments andobjectivesforprioritywaterbasins The BCMinistryofEnvironment(hereafter guidelines (criteria)(Nagpal Water qualityobjectivesarebaseduponthepr aquatic healthwhichincludestheabilityfor Shellfish SanitationProgram.WaterQualityOb used forshellfishclassificationandharvesting discharges andsocio-economicfactors.Provinci sensitive designatedwaterusewithdueregardfo adequate degreeofsafety.Theobjectivesareset sediment, whichwillprotectthemo basis. Theobjectivecanbeaphysical,chemicalor Water qualityobjectivesareestablishedinBritis water qualityobjectiveswhere thereisanuncerta remediation isrequiredand sufficientlypracticalto water bodieswhereresource managementisrequir designated wateruse,either noworinthenearfu general rule,objectivesareonlysetinwater objectives arebasedcomefromtheliterature,and occurring toawateruse.Theworkingguideli biota orsedimentthatmustnotbeexceededto (CCME) waterqualityguidelines(CCME1998).The 1.0. 1.1. B 1.2. W

I NTRODUCTION ACKGROUND ATER ATER Q UALITY

O et al. BJECTIVES ent wascollectedbetween1999and2004. 1998)andCanadianCouncilofMinisterstheEnvironment st sensitivedesignatedwateruse

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B referred toasMOE)prepareswaterquality ASIC ASIC shellfish growingandharvestingvalues. bodies whereman-madeinfluencesmaythreatena Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound nes uponwhichmanyoftheproposedprovisional which isthemandateoffederalCanadian ovincial approvedandworkingwaterquality ound, locatedonthewestcoastofBC preventspecifieddetrimentaleffectsfrom jectives, rather,areusedasanindicatorfor h Columbiaforwaterbodiesonasite-specific craft, potentialcontaminationfromshore-based P (primarily oystersandclams),fisheriesother t Nationsresourcesandsites.Potentialimpacts al WaterQualityObjective,however,arenot HILOSOPHY in possibilityoffuturehuman influenceswould ture. Objectives,therefore, willonlybesetfor r ambientwaterquality,aquaticlife,waste improvewaterquality.As well,promulgating at alevelwhichshouldprotectthemost are referencedinthefollowingsections.Asa ng area,containingthelargestmarineparkin biologicalcharacteristicofwater,biotaor ed toprotectexistingwater qualityorwhere and residences,forestryactivities(including in BritishColumbia. guidelines describecharacteristicsofwater, ll RiveronVancouverIsland.Themajority

at aspecificlocationwithan This reportdescribes Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page 2

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY permitted wasteoccurstoDesolationSound,noinitialdilutionzoneshavebeenset. specific studiestodetermineanappropriateinitia surface. Directdischargestosmallerstreams discharge, andoccupyingnomorethan50percentof be sitespecificbutinriversarenormally Water qualityobjectivesdonotapplytotheinitial approved waterqualityguidelines. reviewed asmoremonitoringinformationbecomes be exercisedtomaintainconditionssuperior good marginofsafetytoprotectdesignatedwate allowed indicatesthatsomewasteassimilati for upgradingwaterqualitywhichmayberequired. the existingwaterquality.Theyallowforincr The objectivesproposedinthisreporttakeinto that thewaterswerebeingprotec through timetodetermineattainmentoftheobjec and wouldleadtoanexpectationthatthose lead toalargenumberofobjectivesforvariables and HernandoIslands)are primarilys underlain byintrusivegranitic rocks,althoughafe generally smallwithrelativelylowreliefandmaximum altitudesofabout1500m.Theareais The watershedsthatfeedDesolationSoundare report. Assessment andObjectivesreport(Phippen,2005), and portion ofEastRedondaIsland.OkeoverInletis quality inthesouthernportionofsound,bet Pendrell Sound,TobaInletandRamsayArm.Howe as wellRazaIslandinthenorth,andalar kilometers inlandinthenorthwest.Deso south tonorth,andabout26kilometersfromeas northwest ofPowellRiver(Figure1).Thesound Desolation Soundislocatedonthewestcoastof 1.3. D ESCRIPTION OF W ATERSHED ted, albeitbydatedobjectives. edimentary composites(MSRM 2004).

defined asextendingupto100mdownstreamfroma lation SoundincludesEastandWestRedondaIslands, values wouldbemeasuredatsomefrequency ve capacitycanbeusedwhilestillmaintaininga ge numberofembaymentsincludingOkeoverInlet, eases overbackgroundwhichcanbetolerated,or Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound such asthosedescribedinthisreportrequire theobjectives.Theseobjectivesaretobe ween theMalaspinaPeninsulaandsouthern account theuseofwatertobeprotectedand part oftheCoastalMountainRange,andare t towest.TobaInletextendsafurther32 whichmaynotbeimportantinthelongterm, theBCmainland,approximately30kilometers r uses.However,allreasonableeffortsshould l dilutionzone.Asnodirectdischargeofa stretches forapproximately32kilometersfrom tives. Thiscouldleadtoanunrealisticbelief dealt withindetailaseparateWaterQuality dilution zonesofeffluents.Thesemay w areastothewest(including Texada,Twin Anyincreaseoverbackgroundwhichis availableandasBCMOEestablishesmore ver, thisreportwillfocusprimarilyonwater the widthofriver,fromitsbedto is thereforediscussedonlybrieflyinthis Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page 3

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Theodosia RiveratthetopofOkeoverInlet.Flow Little hydrometricdatahasbeencollectedinthe peripherally, withrespecttohowt (including tributariestothesoundandsmallla This reportisconcernedprimarily of thehighestpeaks. windward moistmaritime(MHmm1)subvarient,andAlpineTundra(ATp)canbefoundonafew elevation. Higherelevations(aboveabout maritime (CWHvm1)andmontaneverywetmariti dry maritimezone(CWHxm1),givingwaytot subvarients. Thelowestelevat Three primarybiogeoclimaticzonesoccurwith January to18°CinJulyand August. (elevation 6m)weremoderate,withaverageda while thedriestperiodisbetweenJuneandAugust. hydroelectric dam.Thehighestvolumesofpr evident, itismutedbythefactthatflow measured atnearbyCortesIsland–whilethe the TheodosiaRiverbetween1956and1993compar show summerpeaksduetosnowmelt.Figure2s precipitation fallsassnow(see draining intoDesolationSound,coupledwiththe available onlyfortheTheodosiaRiver.Dueto Inlet), andtheTheodosiaRiver(whichflowsinto River (whichflowsintoRamsayArm),theT the majorityofwaterflowssouththroughPowellRi Tributaries toDesolationSoundaregenerallysmall, enhance salmonidhabitatandspawninggrounds. First Nationnegotiatedthepartialrestorationof of theriverbetweendateconstruction( dam operatedbyPowellRiverEnergy,whichhasre 2.0.

H YDROLOGY AND ions arecomposedoftheCoastalWesternHemlockeasternvery Table 2-1),flowsarecloselyrelatedtoprecipitationanddonot withthemarinewatersofDesolationSound,andfreshwater hey mightimpactmarinewaterquality. P RECIPITATION 1000 m)aredominatedbytheMountainHemlock regime oftheTheodosiaRiveriscontrolledby oba RiverandBremCreek(whichflowintoToba Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound he drymaritime(CWHdm),submontaneverywet 1956) and2004.RecentlytheSliammon(Tla’amin) ecipitation fallbetweenOctoberandFebruary, kes suchasUnwinLake)areconsideredonly relationship betweenflowandprecipitationis in DesolationSound,withatotalofsix dischargewithintheriverinanattemptto ily temperaturesrangingfromabout3°Cin Desolation Soundarea,withtheexceptionof Okeover Arm).Ofthese,hydrometricdatais fact thataverysmallpercentageofoverall me (CWHvm2)subvarientswithincreasing hows theaveragedailyflowforeachmonth from thisriveriscont ver. SignificanttributariesincludetheQuatam relatively smallsizeofallthewatersheds sulted ina70%reductionthenaturalflows especiallyontheeastsideofinletwhere AirtemperaturesmeasuredatCortesIsland ed withaveragemonthlyprecipitation

rolled byahydroelectric Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page 4

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY anal 147.9 121.0 110.6 88.6 70.2 65.1 50.558.8 71.7 149.6 24.8 207.0 Snowfall 12.2 167.8 5.5 2.00.0 0.0 0.0 0.64.9 19.9 Rainfall) Precipitation (mm) aapn ne 6 13 SillDepth(m) 68 Depth(m) Theodosia Inlet Grace Harbour Malaspina Inlet Basin Location Table 2-2.Depthsofvarious basins significant amountoftimebeforebeingflushedoutintotheGeorgiaStrait. these inlets.Therefore,anycontaminantsin being introducedintotheinlets,resultsinlittlemixingandlongretentiontimeswithinsomeof 2-2), thelong,narrownatureofmanynat (MSRM 2004).Theselowcurrents,coupledwithsills knots innarrowerportionsoftheMalaspinaIn from about0.7to1.6metres(WXTide32,2005). daily tideinPrideauxHavenrangesfromabout2. Tides withinDesolationSoundaremixeddiurnal Table 2-1.Average monthly precipitationm swimming, fishinganddiving. Thebusiestperiods most populartypesofrecreational activities usually launchedinOkeover Inle Most peopleaccessDesolationSoundbyboat,either Sound, makethisareaanextrem access) aswellthefactthatterminusof kayaks andothersmallvesselscanbelaunched these parksinarelativelysmallarea,coupledwi Provincial MarineParkislocatedontheoutsideof Cortes Island(MansonsLandingandSmeltBay Desolation SoundProvincialMarinePark.There (Walsh Cove,TeakerneArmandRoscoeBay,a mariculture). Asmentionedintheintroduction, Recreation isoneofthetwomostimportantus koe acltIlt 15 20 135 Okeover &LancelotInlets 3.0. 3.1. R Hydrographic Service 1990). (Environment CanadaPrecipitationData,1976to2000).

W a e a p a u Jl Aug Sep OctNov Jul Jan Feb Apr Mar Dec May Jun ECREATION ATER U

SES

t) orpleasurecraftsuchas powerboatsandsailboats.The ely populartouristdestination. and sills within DesolationSound(Canadian and sillswithin that occuronoraroundthe waterincludeboating, troduced totheseinletswouldbepresentfora Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound let, currentsaredescribedasweakelsewhere theSunshineCoastTrailislocatedinDesolation es fortheDesolationSoundarea(theotherbeing easured as rain and snow atCortesIsland,BC easured asrainandsnow ural inlets,andthelowvolumesoffreshwater Desolation Soundcontainsthreeprovincialparks 37 22 ll onWestRedondaIsland)aswellthe , withtwouneventideseachday.Thelarger th therelativeaccessibilityofarea(canoes, provincial parks),andtheCopelandIslands from OkeoverInlet,whichhaspavedroad While therearetidalcurrentsbetween2and4 7 to5.4metres,whilethesmallertideranges are alsotwootherprovincialparksonnearby MalaspinaPeninsula.Thepresenceofall are inJulyandAugust,with thelowestvisitor atmanyoftheinletentrances(seeTable self-propelled(canoes,kayaksetc.thatare Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower 14 2 Surrey, B.C. Page 5

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Roscoe Bay Park Park Teakerne Arm Marine Park Copeland Islands Marine Park Desolation Sound Table 3-1.Summary ofmonthly boatcountsforvarious Provincial Parksinandaround the parksinandaroundDesolationSoundforMaythroughSeptember,1998to2003. traffic occurringduringthewintermonths.Tabl harvesting, withasmallerhistory ofrecorded The areaisimportantinthe commercialshellfis Sound, theRedondaIslandsandeastern Pacific FisheriesManagementArea(PFMA)15-05, been providedbyFisheriesandOceansCanada(K represent animportantindustryintheDesolati The harvestingofwildshellfishandinve fish andfinfish.Thesecanfurtherbes Fisheries valuesintheDesolationSoundareac 3.2. F May Desolation Sound,1998to2003(fromBCParks,2005pers.comm.). June July August September Total ISHERIES 03 6 3 19 16 149 67 35 68 31 2003 94 2000 10 03 4 22 7 70 175 262 48 203 2003 140 14 2000 10 27 20 16 18 30 2003 24 2000 10 988 0 0 15 43 1153 109 40 1998 8 2001 1999 2001 1999 2001 1999 78 516 2001 130 13 1999 1998 4 03 30 70 56 271 164 2586 1700 320 2088 1642 2003 879 2000 40 981 1 2 44 444 22 10 1998 12 986 21 89 19 326 4179 1839 261 1998 64

18 10 15 48 15 22 6 6

427 105 48 60 18 14 26 20 ubdivided intowildstocksandrearedstocks. rtebrates, includingclams,geoducksandprawns, Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound sea cucumberharvest,and smallamountsofcrab, side ofCortesIsland(Figure3). on Soundarea.Thefollowingcatchstatisticshave e 3-1showsBCParksboatcountsforsomeof h industryforintertidalclam, geoduck,andprawn an bedividedintotwomaincategories–shell- 2051 1508 102 187 100 68 62 49 erry Marcus,2005pers.comm.)forthe which encompassesthewatersofDesolation 2567 1852 121 312 169 88 78 78 244 350 Ministry ofEnvironment 14 30 64 44 26 22 Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. 1353 4024 5337 4813 3830 6669 217 251 218 246 485 629 423 383 199 169 741 488 61 98 Page 6

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY province. Island. Thisrepresentsapproximately 6%oft production, includingclams,musselsandoysters, Island, inthenorthernpartofDesolationSound. Doctor BayonWestRedondaIsland.Thereisal salmon farms:onelocatedatthemouthofHomf total of31aquaculturetenureswithinPFMA15- Aquaculture isalsoanimportantindustryfort of 500tonnes. pet food.TheannualquotaforPFMA15-05is50 krill, thataretypicallyusedtomanufactureco Another marineresourcethatiscommercially Provincial MarinePark)andTeakerneArm considered asignificantgroundfisharea,andbot chum, 400pink,40coho,andnoestimatesforso of sockeye,coho,pink,chumandchinooksalmon.Themaximumnumbersonrecordare7,500 Creek) islistedinthefederal/provincial small toserveasspawninggroundsforsalmon. The majorityoftributariestothelowerDe been recordedsince1997. 165,000 lbsbetween1979and2003.Smalllandings(< There aresevendocumentedgeoduckharvestsfrom reported at160,000lbperyear,witht millions poundsreportedsince1980.Theannualaveragelandingsbetween2000and2004are The areaisveryimportantinthecommercialpr Squirrel Coveandspecificallyjustnor active inPrideauxHaven,outsideRedondaBay, harvest ofbothclamsandoystersintheDesolati First Nationsfood,socialandceremonialharvesting. The harvestofintertidalclamshasbeenimportant programs begantotracklandingsbysubarea. green seaurchinandshrimpbytrawllandings en tothirtyvesselsharvestingannually. th ofMaryPointonCortesIsland. salmon spawningdatabaseassupportingescapements solation Sound(southoftheRedondaIslands)aretoo are designatedrockfishconservationareas. mmercial fishfoodand,toalesserextent,aquarium Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound he DesolationSoundarea.Atpresent,therearea harvestedinDesolationSoundiseuphausiids,or he totalnumberofshellfish tenureswithinthe reported sincetheearly1980’swhenharvestlog awn fisherywithlandingsofgreaterthantwo 05 (Table3-2).Twoofthesetenuresarefor Theremaining29tenuresareforshellfish ray CreekinHomfrayChannelandtheother Onetributary,Forbes on Soundarea.Thecommercialclamfisheryis h theGiffordPeninsula(DesolationSound so asalmonfarmonthenorthshoreofRaza the shorelineonCortesIslandaboveandbelow ckeye orchinook.DesolationSoundisnot withthemajoritylocatedonWestRedonda bothforthecommercialfisheryaswell tonnes, about10%ofthetotalprovincialquota Aswell,thereisasignificantrecreational theareawithatotalofapproximately 100lb/year)ofsidestripeshrimphave Creek(a.k.a.Small Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page 7

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY responsibility undertheCSSP andtheDFO. Designated waterusesarenotthesameasshe concern inawatershedsothatattainmentof or waterbody.Waterqualityobjectivesarethen Designated waterusesaresensitive Killer Whale(COSEWICdatabase,2005). heron, theOlympiaoyster,Pacificsardine,and in theareaincludecoasttailedfrog,grizzl feeding areaforspringandfallmigratorymarines species ontheConservationDataCentreRedLis upland birds.MuchofDesolationSoundiscons deer, numeroussmallermammals,amphibiansandrept Upland speciesaretypicaloflow-elevation As DesolationSoundisrelativelypristine,it butter clamsonly. Redonda Island.Thereisalsoabiotoxinclosure Prideaux HavenandTenedosBayonthemainlandAlliesInletRoscoeWest well, seasonalsanitaryclosuresbetw portions ofRefugeCoveonWestRedondaIsl sanitary closuresonshellfishharvestingin growing andharvesting.TheDepartmentof Marine waterqualitywithintheDesolationSoundhashadanimpactonabilityforshellfish *Net Cagesrefertomarinefinfishfarmsitesallother Table 3-2.Summary ofmariculture tenuresforDesolationSound(PFMA15-05)asof Culture Type* e ae 4245 22 2 12 4 1 146.4 42.2 25.5 14.2 1,464,103 422,415 255,179 141,722 Total for15-05 Off Bottom&Near Off Bottom& Off Bottom Net Cages Bottom 383,762 38.4 12 3.4. D 3.3. W January 2005(Source:MAFF,2005). ESIGNATED ILDLIFE

W ATER ATER U SES Tenure Area ,6,8 6. 31 2,667,181 266.7

een May31andSeptember30havebeenimposedon (m 2) culturetypes areformarineshellfishfarmsites.

a numberofareasincludingtheeastandnorthwest coastal areasandincludeblackbear,black-tailed supports anumberofimportantwildlifevalues. FisheriesandOceanshasimposedyear-round the objectiveswillprotectdesignateduses. Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound y bear,Keenslong-earedbat,thePacificgreatblue and theembayedareaonMinkIsland.As the North-eastPacifictransientpopulationof llfish harvestingapprovalswhichareafederal designed forthesubstancesorconditionsof idered importanthabitatformarbledmurrelets,a that aredesignatedforprotectioninawatershed in effectfortheentireareaofPFMA15-05 t. Itisalsoconsideredanimportantrestingand Tenure Area hore birds.Otherspeciesatriskoccurring iles, aswellraptorsandavarietyof h) SiteCount (ha) Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page 8

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY the sedimentsbeneath netpens. elevated nutrientlevelsinthe immediateareaas water quality.Finally,inthe caseofsalmonfarms, there isalsothepotentialforfueloroilspills, malfunctioning septicfields.Asboatsaretheonl these residencesbeingdischargeddirectlyinto some impactonwaterquality.Potentialcontam are anumberofmaricultureleasesinthearea, Island, occupyasignificantportionofthelandbase. Roscoe BayProvincialPark),aswellanec Sound ProvincialMarinePark,WalshCoveProvin Much ofthelandareainDesolationSoundconsists water quality.Actualimpactswillbedi within theDesolationSoundarea,aswellpot contamination fromfacilitiesatcampsites.T residences withdirectdischargesorfailedon- impacts tomarinewaterqualityaregenerally Desolation Soundisarelativelypristinearea, based onexistingactivitieswithinthewatershed. These aretheusesthatmostsensitiveto and aesthetics,marineaquaticlifeincludingthe mariculture, aquaticlifeandwildlife,thedesignat As theprimarywaterusesforDesola foreshore oruplandareas;andseepagefrom depositions ontheforeshoreareabypets;impr this, includingdirectdischargesfrompleasurecr recreation) isthatofbacteriologicalcontaminat Desolation Sound( we mustconsider.Themostsignificantim number ofimportantpotentialimpactstomarinewate As recreationisoneofthekeyanthropogenicacti 4.0. 4.1. R 4.2. L

I NFLUENCES ON AND ECREATION O WNERSHIP i.e. theabilityforshellfishgrowi

W scussed infurtherdetailSection6. ATER tion Soundareforrecreationalpurposesand pact withregardstodesignatedwaterusesin he followingsub-sectionsoutlineexistinglanduses especially inrefuelinglo Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound related tohumanwastedischargedbyboatersand impacts thatmightoccurtomarinewaterquality, with nopermittedwastedischarges.Potential site septicsystems,aswellpossible ological reservecoveringmostofEastRedonda existing outhouseswithintheparks. ion. Thereareanumberofpotentialsourcesfor aswellprivateresidences,thatmayhave oper disposalofwastesbyhikersonthe Q marine watersorseepingintotheoceanfrom ination mightoccurfromuntreatedsewage ential impactsfromtheseactivitiesonmarine aft, aswellrun-offfromlandfrom:direct wellasaccumulationsofdecomposing wastein ed waterusesareprimary-contactrecreation y feasiblemeansoftransportationinthearea, vities withinDesolationSound,therearea cial Park,TeakerneArmProvincialParkand UALITY ng andharvestingprimary-contact biologicalwastefromthefish couldresultin ofCrownLand.Provincialparks(Desolation However,asdiscussedinSection3.2,there ability forshellfishgrowingandharvesting. r qualityresultingfromtheseactivitiesthat

cations, whichcouldimpact Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page 9

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY cause thegastrointestinaldiseas concentrations ofwaterfowlmaycontri significantly affectbacteriologicalconcent In general,wildlifeconcentrationsthroughoutt the originsofcoliforms. inter-species transferofpathogens.However,without less ofaconcerntohumanhealththancontami wastes includinghumans.Fecalcontaminationof fecal coliformsandenterococciareindicator carry Giardia Wildlife caninfluencewaterqualitybecausewarm is themostsensitivewater useinDesolati marine aquaticlifeincluding theabilityforshellfis parameters suchastotalmetals andpolycyclicar parameters suchasfecalcoliforms,nitrate, Environment Canada’sShellfishSanitationProgr Desolation Soundwatershed.Fecalcolifor This reportprovidesanassessmentofwaterqualitydata collectedfrom1999to2004in 5.0. likely tobeminimal. scaled andutilizesingle-treeclumpedretentionme sewage atloggingcamps.Asfutureactivi sediments belowactivelogdumps,andpotentialfe include increasedlocalizedturbidityandsuspendedsolids,barktree-wasteaccumulationon Redonda Islandandthemainland.Potentialimpactsto and BCTimberSales(formerlytheSmallBusi International ForestProductsonthemainlandnor forest tenureswithinthearea,includingTermi Desolation SoundfallswithintheSunshineCoast Giardia 4.3. F 5.1. W 4.4. W

lamblia D ESCRIPTION OF OREST , whileaquaticmammalsanddomesticlivestockcarry ATER ATER ILDLIFE , whichcausesgiardiasis S H

AMPLING AMPLING ARVESTING AND P ROCEDURES e, cryptosporidiosis. Virtua W F OREST bute tobacteriologicalcontamination. ATER or“beaverfever”,and rations. However,inlocalizedareas,high on Soundfortheseparameters. Basedoncurrent

m datacollectedbetween1994and2004aspartof nitrite, phosphorus,andtotalmetals,sediment R bacteria forthepresenceofwarm-bloodedanimal Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound nal ForestProductsLtd.onWestRedondaIsland, OADS ness ForestEnterpriseProgram)onbothWest he studyareaarenotthoughttobehighenough Q nation byhumansbecausethereislessriskof h growingandharvesting. Shellfishharvesting am isalsoexamined.Keywaterquality omatic hydrocarbonsare th ofDesolationSoundProvincialMarinePark, Timber SupplyArea.Thereareanumberof -blooded animalscancarrypathogenssuchas ties willlikelycontinuetoberelativelysmall- UALITY water byanimalsisgenerallyconsideredtobe cal contaminationfromimproperlydisposedof

DNAtesting,itisimpossibletodetermine thods, impactsfromt marinewatersfromtheseactivitiesmight lly everymammalevertestedcan M Cryptosporidium ONITORING Cryptosporidium considered toprotect hese activitiesare Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower oocystswhich . Inaddition, P ROJECT Surrey, B.C. Page 10

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY relatively remotesiteslocatedintheGreaterDesolationSoundFocusArea(Figure1). North, ButeCentre,South, Forbes Bay,PendrellSoundandRedondaBay(Fi less utilizedbypleasurecraft,andincludesmoni represents aless-impactedsiteusedtodescribe which arepopularanchorages).DesolationSout sampling sitesatGalleyBay,TenedosRosc potential impacts).FocusAreaB(Figure5)is Desolation Soundarea.We’vesubdividedtheareabas A numberofwaterandsedimentqualitymonitori activities increase. watersheds, thesearethewaterqualityparam recreation andmariculture),withthesmall knowledge ofpotentialanthropogenicimpactsto the detectablelimitsforagivenpar no morethan18%.However,thisinterpretationonl water samplesis25%,whiletheacceptablepercent various samples.Themaximumacceptableperc percent relativestandarddeviation(fortriplicates a monitoringlocation,andthencalculatingtheper three) samplebottlesinasclosetothesameti contamination. Similarly,duplicateandtriplicat exactly thesamewayasregularsamples,andgi method similartohowstandardsamplesarecollected.Theotherwisehandledin blanks arecollectedbytransportingdeionizedwater control wasalsoverifiedbycollectingfield Inventory Committee(RIC)standards,bytrai Water andsedimentsampleswerecollectedinstri to betreatedasuncontaminated. blanks arewithintheguidelines, thedataisto occurred when5%ormore oftheblanksshowany Guidelines forInterpreting Water QualityData therefore weexpecttoseeahigherdegreeof (notably bacteriologicalindicators)arenothomogeneous throughoutthewatercolumnand limit showsmorevariabilitythanresultswellabove 5.2. Q UALITY A SSURANCE /

Q ameter, astheaccuracyofa UALITY C blanks andduplicatetriplicatesamples.Field ONTROL RamseyArm,FrederickandPhillipsArmare ned personnel.Qualityassuranceandquality Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound beconsideredcleanandthe realsampledataare (RIC,1997)indicatethatcontamination has typicallytheareawithhighestuseandincludes variability betweenreplicatesamples.The eters mostlikelytochangeshouldanthropogenic me periodaspossible(onerightaftertheother)at e watersamplesarecollectedbyfillingtwo(or number ofwastedischargestoanythe ng siteswereselectedthroughoutthegreater toring sitesatFrancesBay,Attwood ve anindicationofpotentialsourcesfield ) betweenthelaboratoryresultsreportedfor h isalsolocatedinFocusAreaB,and the watersheds(generallyassociatedwith ent relativemeandifferencesbetweenduplicate ambient conditions.FocusAreaAisslightly oe Bay,GraceHarbourandRefugeCove(allof cent relativedifference(forduplicates)or gure 4).TobaSouth,Centre, ct accordancewiththeProvincialResource levelsabovethemethoddetection limit.Ifthe detectable limits.Aswell,someparameters

y holdstrueiftheresultsareatleast10times relativestandarddeviationfortriplicatesis and fillingsamplebottlesateachsiteina ed onrelativelevelsofuse(andtherefore result closetothedetectable Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page 11

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ammonia isfortheprotection of concentrations thatmightbe ofconcern(themo contamination maybeoccurringinsomesamples. detection limitsforalloftheseparametersis Kjeldahl nitrogenandtotalorganiclevelsof between 0.13mg/Land0.14mg/L,whilethe below detectablelimits.Exceptionstothiswe Five setsoffieldblankswerecollectedin2002 mean differences,resultswerewithin10ti number ofparameters)to143%(forfixednon-filt bacteriological indicators(TableA-4).Relati In 2002,onesetoftriplicatesandfivesets acceptable limitof18%. parameters (cobalt,nickelandselenium)hadrela relative percentstandarddeviationsweregenerally to 75metres,inPrideauxHaven(TableA-3). In 2000,onesetofsedimentsampleswascollect percent relativestandarddeviationof0%(TableA-2). ranging from0%to57%(TableA-1).In2000, analyzed forbothfecalcoliformsandenteroco between 1999and2004.Triplicatebacteriologicalsamplescollectedatfivesitesin Appendix 1containsanumberoftablesthat as equaltothedetectionlimitforpurposes In allinstancesandforparameters,values parameter. composition inagivenareaaswelltherangeof case, thepercentdifferencebetweensamplesgive differences betweenthesamplesareinterpreteddiffer to thefactthatsedimentsamplesaremuch for analysis,whileinotheryears,samples sampling program,triplicatesampleswerecombinedandonecompositesamplewassubmitted usually fromcloseproximitytoeachother samples werecollectedusingaPonarclamshelldredgetoretrievetwo(orthree)samples, Sediment samplereplicateswerealsocollected marine aquaticlifeat2.5mg/L). mes thedetectablelimitsforeachparameter. ofduplicateswereanalyzedfornutrientsand and atasimilardepth.Forthe1999sediment were keptseparateandanalyzedindependently.Due lesshomogeneousthanwatersamples,thepercent ve percentdifferences 0.02 mg/L.Thissuggeststhatsomenutrient summarize QA/QCdatacollectedforeachyear Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound re fortwosamplesthathadtotalnitrogen, reported atbelowdetectablelimitswere However, evenfromthesedifferentdepths,the ofcalculatingmeansandstandarddeviations. cci hadpercentrelativestandarddeviations one setoftriplicatefecalcoliformsampleshada (Table A-5)andresultsfortheseweregenerally st sensitiveapplicablewater qualityguidelinefor on anumberofoccasions.Duplicateortriplicate erable residue).Forallofthehigherpercent ed fromthreedifferentdepths,ranging12 tive percentstandarddeviationsabovethe However,theselevelsarefarbelowany s usanideaofthevariabilitysediment low,rangingfrom0%to23%.Onlythree values thatwemightexpecttoseeforagiven ently thanitisforwatersamples.Inthis ranged from0%(fora Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page 12

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Water andsedimentqualitydatafromthevarioussites aresummarizedinAppendixB. deviation of4%forthe49variablesmeasuredinbothsamples. a lowdegreeofvariabilityformosttheparam Finally, twosetsofduplicatesedimentsample nitrate+nitrite andtotalcopper,eachof phosphorus inonesamplewhichhadarelati differences weregenerallybelowthe25%thre Two setsofduplicatewatersampleswerecollectedin2004,andrelativepercentmean sample rangedfrom12%to21%. for therelativepercentstandarddeviationsca detectable limitformostrelativepercent metals) to115%fornaphthalene(TableA-8).Agai deviations forthesamplesrangedfrom0%(for Two setsoftriplicatesedimentsampleswere variability atlowerconcentrations. non-filterable residueatlevelsneardetectabl ranged from0%to67%(TableA-7).Thehigher One setofduplicatewatersampleswascollectedin2003,andrelativepercentmeandifferences analyses orcollectionmethods. samples, thisismorelikelyanindicationofnatur between theduplicatesamples.However,due parameters testedwasquitehigh,at48%,s ranged from0%to100%(TableA-6).The One duplicatesedimentsamplewascollectedin water. Fecalcoliformsarequitespecif although rarelypathogenicthemselves Coliform bacteriaarepresentinlargenumbersthe fecesofwarm-bloodedanimals,and fresh ormarinewaters(Brettar andHöfle,1992), thus arelessindicativeoffecal contamination. even morespecific,whereas tota 6.0. 6.1. C

W OLIFORM BACTERIA ATER Q UALITY

l coliformshavemanynon-fecal sources(e.g.soils,plants),and A ic tothefecesofwarm-bloodedanimalsand , theyareusedasindicatorsoffecalcontaminationin which hadrelativedifferencesof67%. SSESSMENT AND standard deviationsabove18%,andtheoverallmean average percentmeandifferenceforthe33 uggesting arelativelyhighdegreeofvariability ve percentmeandifferenceof100%,and collectedin2003,andrelativepercentstandard e limits,andtheseparameterstendtoshow Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound lculated forthe49variablesmeasuredineach s werecollectedin2004(TableA-10).Therewas Coliformsgenerallydonot survivelongincold, shold (TableA-9).Exceptionsincludedtotal to thelackofhomogeneityamongstsediment eters, withameanrelativepercentstandard most polycyclicaromatic 2002,andpercentrelativemeandifferences al variabilityratherthanproblemswithlaboratory values wereallassociatedwithfilterableand but cansurviveforprolonged periodsinstream n, concentrationswerelessthan10timesthe O BJECTIVES hydrocarbonsandafew Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower E.coli

Surrey, B.C. are Page 13

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (CSSP). Undertheprogram,s Environment Canadausessimilarguidelinesunder recreation. for enterococciand200/100mLfecalcoliforms contact recreationandtheabilityforcrustacean guidelines areageometricmeanof100/100mLfo with thefederalshellfishclassificationof for theprotectionofabilityshellfishgr a 90 monitoring sitesinFocusAreaB(TablesB-1toB-6, Appendix B).Medianand90 Enterococci andfecalcoliformconcentrationswere five sampleswithina30-day period)areshowninTable6-1. values calculatedforthoseinstancesw indicators area90 aquatic life,andprimarycontactrecreation),t the data.Basedonexistingwateruses(theab determine ifwaterqualityguidelinesareexceeded, (Howell sediment, soilsorfecalmaterial,whenassociated result incoliformsappearingoverly following conditionssetforthintheCSSParemet: mean. Forthisreason,90 deviation, todetermineifnumbersareconsistently particular site.Itisthereforeimportanttoc result inextremelyhighconcentrations(>1000/100 Stephenson andRychert,1982).Theinclusionofasm th percentileof11/100mLandamedian4/ fecal coliforms MPN of 43/100 mL. 43/100mL. MPNof fecal coliforms exceed samples 10% the of than more not and 14/100mL exceed not does water the (MPN)of Number Probable Most fecalcoliform mean geometric or median The might be hazardous; and shellfish the of consumption that extent the to biotoxins marine or substances f The areaisnotcontaminatedwith et al. 6.1.1. FocusAreaB , 1996;Tiedemann th percentileof43/100mLandamedian14forfecalcoliforms, th percentile,medianandgeometricmeanvaluesaregenerallyusedto hellfish growingareasmaybe et al. ing waterforextendedperiods(Jawson , 1987).Disturbanceofthesesedimentscantherefore here therewassufficientsamplingfrequency( harvestopeningsandclosures.Otherapplicable ecal material,poisonous onsider therangeofvalues,aswellstandard owing andharvesting,butarenottobeconfused he moststringentguidelinesforbacteriological Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound ility forshellfishgrowingandharvesting,marine harvesting, andageometricmeanof20/100mL highorifonevalue“artificially”inflatedthe with particulatematter,orinwarmerwater 100 mLforenterococci.Theseguidelinesare , bothfortheprotectionofprimary-contact r enterococcifortheprotectionofsecondary theirCanadianShellfishSanitationProgram measuredanumberoftimesateachthe as extremevalueswouldhavelesseffecton mL), whichcanskewtheoverallresultsfora all pieceoffecalmatterinasamplecan designated asApprovedwhenthe ordeleterious Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower et al. th , 1982; percentile i.e. Surrey, B.C. atleast Page 14

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY enterococci were<2MPN/100mLforallthreesites, and 90 between July17and29,2002.Medianc Five watersampleswerecollectedineac values. the yearforpleasurecraftinDesolationSound, have boatcountsatthosesitesfo August 12,2004)andRefugeCove(170MPN/100mLon11,2004).Whilewedonot values weretheresultofasingleelevat No coliformsampleswere collected at MPN/100 mLto4forbothfecalcoliforms andenterococci. 90 this sitehada90 MPN/100 mLatRefugeCove(July17–29,2002).The90 13, 2004)andDesolationSouth(July19–29,2002August92004),toamaximumof5 2004), RefugeCove(August9–13,Grac Bay (July19–29,2002),PrideauxHaven(Jul Median enterococcivaluesrangedfrombelow exceeded boththemedianand90 – 29,2002).Enterococciconcentrationsforthe 2004) andDesolationSouth(August9–13,to sites rangedfrombelowdetectablelimits(<2 of 14MPN/100mLatRoscoeBay(August9–13,2004).The90 Desolation South(July19–29,2002,July8 (July 19–29,2002),TenedosBay Median fecalcoliformvaluesrangedfrombelow value thatexceededtheguideline,witha harvesting of14MPN/100mLandthe90 August, 2004metthemedianguidelineforprotec (August 9–13,2004).Fecalcoliformconcentrations 29, 2002,July8–16,2003andAugust913, these sitesrangedfrombelowdetectablelimits th percentileguideline.TheAugust,2004samplesfromRefugeCovealsohada90 6.1.2. FocusAreaA 6.1.3. GreaterDesolationSoundFocusArea th percentilethatalsoexceededthehguidelines. r thosedates,mid-Augustcorresponds th percentileguidelines,andtheAugust,2004samplesfrom theGreaterDesolationSound sites. ed sampleatbothRoscoeBay(540MPN/100mLon th h ofForbesBay,AttwoodBayandRedonda value of108.8MPN/100mL.Thesehigh90 percentileof330.8MPN/100mLwaswellabovethe – 16,2003andAugust913,2004),toamaximum Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound MPN/100 mL)forGraceHarbour(August9–13, oncentrations forbothfecalcoliformsand y 17–29,2002),RoscoeBay(August913, detectable limits(<2MPN/100mL)atTenedos 2004)to330.8MPN/100mLforRoscoeBay (<2 MPN/100mL)forDesolationSouth(July19– and thiswaslikelythesourceforelevated samples collectedatRefugeCoveinJuly,2002 detectable limits(<2MPN/100mL)atGalleyBay 2002),GraceHarbour(July8–16,2003)and e Harbour(July16–30,2002andAugust9 22.6MPN/100mLforRefugeCove(July17 forthesamplescollectedatRoscoeBayin tion oftheabilityforshellfishgrowingand th th percentilescalculatedfortheAreaB percentilesrangedfrom<2 th percentilescalculatedfor withthebusiesttimeof Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower th th percentile percentile Surrey, B.C. Page 15

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY samples werecollectedfromTenedosBay,bothwith medianvaluesof<2MPN/100mLand90 Prideaux Haven,twoofeightsiteshad90 Program in1980showedelevatedlevelsforanum coliform samplescollectedaspartoftheEnvi appears thatconditionsmayactuallyhaveimproved While thereareconcernswithbacteriologicalc 64 –101MPN/100mL),inRoscoeBayoneoftwosamplesexceededtheguideline(90 made. number ofsamplesandshortperiodrecorddo appear tohaveimprovedsomewhatoverthosemeas Although conditionsmeasuredaspartofthemo and stillis,ineffect)allthreeofthesites percentile 962MPN/100mL),andattheheadofRe mL, and90 collected fromPrideauxHaven,withmedianva measured onJanuary20,1997.Fivesetsofdat value exceededtheshellfishguideline,due median valuesof<2MPN/100mLand90 percentiles of4MPN/100mL.Finally,twosets median or90 CFU/100 mL(Millar,1991).Noneofthesiteswe Roscoe Bay,PrideauxHavenandTenedosBay Fecal coliformconcentrationsmeasuredoncea for onlyonearea(TenedosBay). bacteriological datawithboatcounts,butforsix percentiles 279–940MPN/100mL).Aspartofth 378 MPN/100mL),inTenedosBay,twoof values rangingfrom<2MPN/100mLto103mL.Onlythemaximum90 Refuge Cove,withmedianvaluesof<2MPN/100mLforallthedatasetsand90 Shellfish SanitationProgram.Sevensetsoffive Fecal coliformswerealsocollectedbetween1994and2000aspartoftheEnvironmentCanada 6.1.4. HistoricalData th percentilevaluesrangingfrom2MPN/ th percentilevalues. had coliformlevelswellabovetheguidelines(90 th th percentilevaluesof2MPN/100mL. percentilesexceedingtheshellfishguidelines(79– six samplesexceededtheguidelines(90 to ananomalousvalueof170MPN/100mL Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound ronment CanadaShellfishGrowingWaterControl ontamination inareasofDesolationSound,it lues rangingfrom<2MPN/100mLto5 re recentwaterqualitymonitoringprograms areas tested,theyfoundasignificantcorrelation month inJune,AugustandOctoberof1991for samplesfroma30-dayperiodwerecollectedin a measuredwiththerequisitefrequencywere showed maximumconcentrationsofonly4 re sampledatsufficientfrequencytodetermine not permitadefiniteassessmentoftrendstobe datawerecollectedfromGalleyBay,bothwith is project,theyattemptedtocorrelate ber ofsitesthroughoutDesolationSound.In 100 mLto18MPN/100mL.Twosetsof fuge Cove(whereashellfishclosurewas, slightly overhistoricalconditions.Fecal ured intheearly1980’s,relativelysmall Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower th percentile th th percentile percentiles th Surrey, B.C.

Page 16 th

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Similarly, the90 should notexceed14MPN/100 mLforfecalcoliformsand4MPN/100 mLforenterococci. that themedianconcentrationofatleast day periodshouldnotexceed 200MPN/100 mLforfecalcoliformsand20MPN/100 mLfor typical bathingareas,the geometricmeanof For areaswhereshellfishharvestingisnotfeasible butthatincludebathingbeachesor should notexceed43MPN/100 mLforfecalcoliformsand11MPN/100 mLforenterococci. both fecalcoliformsandenterococci resulting fromanthropogenicactivity.Forthis bacteriological indicatorsarelowandtheelevat contamination measuredattheDesolationSout evident thattherearestillconc Regardless ofwhetherornotbacteriologicalcontam Table 6-1.Summary ofmedianand90th pe eoainSuh Desolation South oceBy Roscoe Bay Tenedos Bay eueCv Refuge Cove alyBy Galley Bay rc abu Grace Harbour

rdaxHvn Prideaux Haven neooc MN10m) Fecalcoliforms Enterococci(MPN/100mL) uut9–1,20 < 2< <2 <2 <2 <2 August 9–13,2004 uy1 9 02 238< <2 <2 3.8 <2 July 19–29,2002 uut9–1,20 < 5 2 2 <2 August 9–13,2004 uy1 9 02 . 13.4 5 4.6 2 July 17–29,2002 uut9–1,20 2321 38.6 13 3.2 2 August 9–13,2004 uy1 9 02 262 8 2 22.6 5 July 17–29,2002 uy1 0 02 222 40.8 108.8 2 6 2 11 <2 <2 July 16–30,2002 August 9–13,2004 July 19–29,2002 July 19–29,2002 July 8–16,2003 July 8–16,2003 July 9–17,2003 August 9–13,2004 July 8–16,2003 uy1 9 02 224 23 4 2 <2 July 17–29,2002 indicated. thedates Area Bsites.Eachvalue isbasedonfive samplescollectedbetween th percentileofatleastfivesamplescollectedwithin a30-dayperiod erns associatedwiththeseindicators.Thelowlevelsof Median throughout theDesolationSoundarea. <2 <2 fivesamplescollectedwithina30-dayperiod 2 Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound reason, awaterqualityobjectiveisproposedfor rcentiles forsamplescollectedattheFocus ed levelsarecausedbylocalizedcontamination h siteindicatethatambientlevelsof atleastfivesamplescollected withina30- Percentile Median ination inDesolationSoundisimproving,it 90 th

3.2 6.8 2 (MPN/100 mL) <2 <2 <2 <2 14 8 2 The objectiveis Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Percentile 90 th 330.8 Surrey, B.C.

20.6 5.6 <2 12 Page 17 5 2

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY those areas. enterococci. Thisobjectivewillprotectprimar concentrations ofnitrate,nitriteandammoniawe Nitrogen concentrationsweremeasuredfive nitrite orphosphorusinthemarineenvironment. mg/L (basedonatleastfivesamplesin30days) of aquaticlifeinmarinewatersfortotalammoniaisamaximum2.5mg/Landmean1.0 an indicationofcontaminationfromeithersewage nutrients (especiallyammoniaandnitrite,which productivity whenplantsconsumeoxygen( can depleteoxygenlevelswhentheydieandbegi systems. Elevatednutrientlevels limiting nutrientinterrestrialsystems,whilephos therefore directlyproportionaltotheavailabilit since theytendtobethelimitingnutrientsinbi Nitrogen (includingnitrateandnitrite)phosphor measured fromDesolation South,themaximum concentration ofammonia and nitriteoccurr nitrite andallconcentrationsbelowdetectable 2004, withmaximumammoniaconcentrationsof0.114 mg/Lforammonia,0.007 respectively. Sixteensampleswereanalyzed while themaximumnitriteandnitrateconcentrationwas 0.004mg/Land0.005mg/L, values occurredduringAugust,2004.Thehighes Fifteen sampleswerecollectedatRefugeCovebetween 2002and2004,againallmaximum August 2004was0.066mg/Lforammonia,0.006 prior toAugust2004werebelowdetectablelimit samples wereanalyzedfromRoscoeBaybetween1999and2004,allcollected were 0.054mg/Lfortotalammonia,0.007fo and ammoniaconcentrationsbelowdetectablelimits. at PrideauxHavenbetween1999and2004,themajori samples collectedatTenedosBaybetween1999and2002.Seventeenwere mg/L, <0.002and<0.005respectively). 6.2. N 6.2.1. FocusAreaB UTRIENTS (N ITRATE ,

N canresultinincreasedplantandalgalgrowth,whichturn ITRITE AND e.g ed inAugust2004.Forthe sixteensamples timesatGalleyBayinJuly,2002,and P Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound y oftheseparameters.Nitrogenisusuallythe HOSPHORUS for nutrientsatGraceHarbourbetween1999and ological systems.Biologicalproductivityis ., atnight).Thepresenceofhighconcentrations limits (<0.002mg/L)fornitrate.Thehighest rapidly breakdownintheenvironment)areoften s. Themaximumconcentrationmeasuredduring nitrate value(0.007mg/L) occurred inJuly, . Therearenoproposedguidelinesfornitrate, phorus tendstobethelimitingfactorinaquatic re consistentlybelow y contactrecreationthatmightoccurin n todecompose,orduringperiodsoflow t concentrationofammoniawas0.088mg/L, r nitrite,and0.008mg/Lfornitrate.Fourteen or fertilizers.Theguidelinefortheprotection us areimportantwaterqualityparameters, Thiswasalsothecaseforfivewater Themaximumrecordedvaluesatthissite fornitriteand0.005mg/Lnitrate. ) ty ofthesesampleshadnitrate,nitrite detectable limits(<0.002 Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page 18

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY swimmers toprotectprimary c the watershouldnotcause anappreciablec 1°C fromambientconditionsfortheprotectionof marine watersarethattemperaturesshouldnot appropriateness ofprimary-contactrecreationin Water temperaturecanaffectthesurvival below guidelinelevels,nowaterqualityobj lower levelsofsewagewaste.Regardless,as collected inJuly,whichtendstobealessbusy increasing overtime,butmayalsosimplybedueto parameters consistentlyoccurredinAugus parameters werealsoconsistentlylow.The applicable guidelinesfornitrateornitritein lower thanthemeanguidelineof1.0mg/Lfor 2004) was28timeslowerthanthemaximumtotalammoniaguidelineof2.5mg/Land11 The highestconcentrationoftotalammonia(0. had aconcentrationof0.011mg/L. limits (<0.002mg/L)to0.003mg/Lwiththeexc 30 msamplefromButeInletCentre.Totalnitrit Centre, aswellthe30mdeepsampleforTobaIn collected atButeInletCentre,Sout Concentrations ofnitraterangedfrombelowdetec Desolation Soundareawereconsistentlybelow Concentrations oftotalammoniameasuredat and nitritewereallconsistent in eachofForbesBay,AttwoodBayandRedondaBa nitrite concentrationswereallbelowdetectablelim One setofsampleswascollectedfromTeakerneArminJuly,2003,andammonia,nitrate mg/L) occurredinAugust,2004. 2003, whilethemaximumnitriteconcentration 6.3. T 6.2.3. GreaterDesolationSoundFocusArea 6.2.2. FocusAreaA EMPERATURE

ly belowdetectablelimits. ontact recreation.Asthere arenoactivitiesoccurringwithin of marineorganisms,aswelldeterminethe marinewaters,butconcentrationsofthese ective isproposedforthisparameter. t, 2004mightsuggestthatconcentrationsare hange inthedeepbodytemperature ofbathersand fact thatthehighestconcentrationsofthese h, RamsayArm,TobaInletNorthand Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound thevarioussitesthroughoutGreater the protectionofaquaticlife.Thereareno ammoniaconcentrationsareconsistentlywell (0.006 mg/L)andammoniaconcentration(0.073 088 mg/L,measuredinRefugeCoveAugust, eption ofthedeepTobaInletNorthsample,which period forboatersandwouldthereforeexperience e levelsatallsitesrangedfrombelowdetectable becausedtoincreaseordecreasemorethan detectable limits(<0.005mg/L)(TableB-20). marinelife,andthethermalcharacteristicsof an area.Theguidelinesfortemperaturein table limits(<0.002mg/L)forsurfacesamples its. FivesampleswerecollectedinJuly,2002 thefactthatpriorto2004,sampleswereall let Centre,toamaximumof0.35mg/Linthe y, andconcentrationsofammonia,nitrate Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page 19

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY temperatures inButeInletbetween1975and1999(DFO2002). Department ofFisheriesandOceansshowsanalmo temperatures maybeincreasingovertimein Central andRefugeCove,20°CinRoscoeBay, temperatures measuredbetween1999and2003were18°CinTenedosBay,19°CDesolation temperature thatarenotseeninmanyot The watersofDesolationSoundarerelativelysha concern. Desolation Soundthatwouldappreciablyaffectwa concern andnoobjectiveisproposed. Desolation Soundandbecauseconcentrationsare samples below10mg/L.Astherearenoknow throughout DesolationSound.Concentrationsranged Total suspendedsolidsconcentrationsweremeasuredbetweenoneandninetimesat20sites than 25mg/Lin24hourswhenbackgroundlevelsarelessmg/L. determined. Theguidelinefortheprotectionof quantity ofthesample,dryingandweighingre undissolved particulatematterinasample.The Total suspendedsolids(TSS,alsoreferredtoasnon-filterableresidueorNFR)includeallofthe phenomenon andbecause therearenoanthropogenicsources potential elevatedcadmium concentrationsinDe waters (especiallyalongthe westcoastofV cadmium resultingbothfromlocalgeomorphology been foundthatthewestcoastofBritishColumb times belowtheguidelinetoallowaproperassessm assessment ofguidelinecompliancecannotbemade. level. Asthedetectionlimitforthismetalis guideline levelswiththeexceptionofcadmiu made ofthetotalmetalconcentration.Allmeta sites in1999,butthesevaluescannotbecompar Central sitebetweenAugust10and12,2004.Disso Concentrations oftotalmetalsweremeasured 6.4. T 6.5. M OTAL ETALS S

USPENDED S OLIDS

her placesonthecoast.Maximumsummer equaltotheguideline(<0.1µg/L),anaccurate ancouver Island)(Kruzynski, 2000).Becauseany m, whichwasoccasionallyequaltotheguideline DesolationSound–along-termstudybythe Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound for threesamplescollectedfromtheDesolation n significantsourcesofinducedTSSwithin ls attheDesolationCentralsitewerebelow marine aquaticlifeallowsanincreaseofnomore TSS concentrationisdeterminedbyfilteringa ia hasnaturallyelevatedconcentrationsof solation Soundwatersare likely duetonatural ed totheguidelinesasnodeterminationcanbe sidue soaweightofresiduepervolumeis llow andprotected,allowingelevationsinwater ter temperatures,theseguidelinesarenota as welltheupwellingofcadmium-rich generally low,TSSisnotconsidereda GraceHarbourandPrideauxHaven.Water ent ofguidelinecompliance.However,ithas st linearincreaseofabout1°Cindeepwater lved metalsweremeasuredatanumberof Detectionlimitsshouldbeatleastten from 2mg/Lto37mg/L,withalmostall of thisoranyothermetalin the Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page 20

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Table 6-2.Comparisonoftotalmetalsconcen should beconductedtodeterminet in thefuturetodetermineifthereareanyincr However, aselevatedmetalslevelsoccasionally area, noobjectivesarerecommendedfortotalcadm concentrations werewellbelowguidelinelevels. thus exceedingtheguidelinebutwhendetection guideline levelof1µg/g.OnesampleatRosc concentrations in1999and2000weremeasuredwith consistently belowtheirrespecti Sediment samplescollectedatallsiteshadconc trends thatmaybeoccurringwithinawatershed. due tothetransientnatureofmarinewaters,bo sediment qualityguidelines.Whilesampling throughout DesolationSound(seeAppendixB).Table6-3givesasummaryofapplicable A numberofsedimentsampleswerecollectedov Parameter Desolation Central rei 03–04u/ 12µg/L 0.3–0.4ug/L Nickel Lead Copper Cadmium Arsenic ic 1u/ 10ug/L 50µg/L(minimalrisk) <1ug/L 100µg/L <1ug/L <1µg/L 1.5µg/L <0.5ug/L Zinc Manganese Iron Chromium (Cr(VI)) 6.6. S aquatic life(fromNagpaletal.2001andMWLAP1998). quality guidelinesfortheprotectionofmarine water approved andworking with EDIMENT C OMPOSITION ve guidelines.Therewasoneexcept Range ofValues

<0.1 –0.1ug/L he sourceofthesemetals. 0.2 –0.4ug/L <0.5 ug/L <0.1 ug/L and assessingwaterchemistrycanbechallenging easing trendsand,ifso,furtherinvestigations Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound oe Baywasreportedasequaltothedetectionlimit, ttom sedimentsareagoodindicatoroflongterm occur,werecommendthatmonitoringcontinue entrations ofchromium,lead,nickelandsilver er theperiodofrecordforvarioussites trations measuredatDesolationCentralsite ium orothermetalsinDesolationSound. limit wasdecreasedinlateryears,silver adetectionlimitof2µg/g,versusthe Guideline 75 µg/L 2 µg/Laverage,140max 2 µg/Laverage,3max 0.1 µg/L ion tothis,inthatsilver Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page 21

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Silver 1 2.2 Acenaphthene 0.007 0.089 Lead 30 112 sediments werecollected(Prideaux Bay hadconcentrationsconsistent sample collectedatPendrellSound,Tenedos exceeded inatleastonesedimentsamplefrom The remainingmetalsforwhichguidelinesex Total LowMWPAH's Pyrene Naphthalene Fluorene Dibenzo(a,h)anthracene Benzo(a)pyrene Benzo(k)fluoranthene Benzo(a)anthracene Acenapthylene Zinc Nickel Copper Cadmium Parameter Table 6-3.Summary ofCanadianSe Benzo(g,h,i)perylene 0.31 0.78 Chromium 52 160 oa ihM A' 96 53 9.6 Total HighMWPAH's oa A' Total PAH's Phenanthrene 0.087 Indeno(1,2,3-c,d)pyrene 0.34 0.88 0.544 Fluoranthene 0.113 Chrysene 0.108 1.494 Benzo(b)fluoranthene 2.3 4.5 0.846 Anthracene 0.047 0.245 with avalueof13.4µg/g,all fouroft 137 µg/gto230µg/g).InGrace Harbour,one µg/g to84.2µg/g),andthree offivezinc µg/g), cadmium(valuesranging from6.1µg/g Roscoe Bayconsistentlyexceededtheguidelines guideline (217µg/g,onSeptember2,1999).All (values rangingfrom14.3µg/gto27.5 ranging from9.1µg/g–14.8µg/g),allof In PrideauxHaven,allofthefivesamples North, FrederickArm,PhillipsArmandTobaInletNo Arsenic 7.2 42 ly belowguidelinelevels,eachoftheremainingsiteswhere he cadmiumsamplesexceeded theguideline(values Haven, RoscoeBay,GraceHar Canadian SedimentQuality Guideline(µg/L) diment Quality Guidelines(fromNagpal Quality Guideline Interim Sediment samples exceededtheguideline (valuesrangingfrom the fivesamplesexceededcadmiumguideline tested forarsenicexceededtheguideline(values ), andoneoffivesamplesexceededthezinc 0.089 0.075 0.006 0.153 0.035 0.021 0.006 Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound ist (arsenic,cadmium,copperandzinc)were Bay,RefugeCove,AttwoodandRedonda to 9.5µg/g),andcopper(values rangingfrom54 0.68 of foursamplesexceeded the arsenicguideline 124 2.3 3.7 one ofthesites.Whilesinglesediment 30 19 five ofthesedimentsamplescollectedat for arsenic(valuesrangingfrom9µg/g–20 rth) exceededatleastoneoftheguidelines. Probable EffectsLevel bour, ForbesBay,ButeInlet 0.763 0.693 0.128 1.398 0.391 0.144 0.135 271 108 4.5 4.2 7.8 50 Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower et al. , 2001). Surrey, B.C. Page 22

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY for theprotectionofmarineaquaticlife. various sitesweremostlybelowdetectablelimits, Concentrations ofpolycyclicar investigations shouldbeconductedtodeter recommend thattheycontinuetobemonitor guidelines arerecommendedformetalsconcentrations known anthropogenicsourcesforanyofthesemeta suggesting thatitisnotduetolocalizedcontami It appearsthattheelevatedlevelsofthese Table 6-4.Summary ofsedimentquality guidelineexceedencesforsediment samples sites inDesolationSound. concentration of39.4µg/g.Table6-4summarize 42.8 µg/g,respectively,andtheTobaInletNort exceeded thearsenic,cadmiumandcopperguidelines arsenic andcopperguidelines(valuesof7.7µg exceeded theguidelineforcopper(67.4µg/g), µg/g whichexceededtheguideline.Finally,int of 48.6µg/g.Thesinglesamplecollectedfrom ranging from0.94µg/g–4.47µg/g),andonesampleexceededthecopperguidelinewithavalue rdaxHvn . 48 43–2. 217 14.3–27.5 9.1–14.8 Prideaux Haven rc abu 1. 09 .7 86 48.6 0.94– 4.47 13.4 Grace Harbour

Toba InletNorth Frederick Arm Forbes Bay Roscoe Bay Concentration Site Location ueIltNrh 74 67.4 Phillips Bute InletNorth 11.41.7842.8 Arm collected inDesolationSound. *Interim sedimentquality guidelineconcentra range (µg/g) (7.2 µg/g)* 9.0 -20.0 Arsenic 7.7 omatic hydrocarbonsmeasuredin

Concentration range (µg/g) (0.68 µg/g)* metals occursthroughoutDesolationSound, Cadmium mine thesourceofelevatedmetals. 6.1 –9.5 tion fortheprotectionofmarineaquaticlife ed andifincreasingtrendsarenoted,further Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound theFrederickArmsampleexceededboth ForbesBayhadacopperconcentrationof25.7 h sampleexceededthecopperguidelinewitha he outlyingareas,theButeInletNorthsample /g and45.9µg/g,respectively),PhillipsArm nation (seeSection6.5).Aswell,thereareno

andwerewellbelowtheirrespectiveguidelines s exceedencesofsedimentguidelinesforall ls withinDesolationSound.Assuch,no withvaluesof11.4µg/g,1.78µg/gand insedimentsDesolationSound,butwe Concentration range (µg/g) (19 µg/g)* 54 –84.2 Copper 39.4 45.9 25.7 sedimentsamplesfromthe Concentration range (µg/g) (124 µg/g)* Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower 137 -230 Zinc

Surrey, B.C. Page 23

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY dependent upongoodmarinewaterquality. these recommendationswouldmakeasignificant Okeover InletWaterQuality2001-2003InterimWa protected. Anumberofbothshort-andlong-te managers anddecisionmakersasawayofensuri comparisons tofuturewaterqualitymonitoring. this documentisintendedtosummarizebaselinec While notallwaterqualityparameterssummarized recommended toidentifywhetherconditions tenures. Monitoringofsedimentbacteriology representative areasthroughoutGreaterDesolati Prideaux Haven,TenedosBay,RefugeCove,Gr objectives. Samplesshouldbecollectedineac is theperiodwherefecalcoliformsandenteroc July and/orAugust.Basedonpastsampling,aswe monitoring, itisrecommendedthatatleastfi baseline conditionsandwaterqualityobjectives. monitoring programbeimplementedwithafocusonoverallmarinewaterqualitytocompare monitoring programforshellfishclassification each year.WhiletheCanadianShellfishS detract fromtheoverallpristineatmospheret of bacteriologicalindicators,whichcanhavea tenures, andpleasurecraftutilizingthearea.The coming years,withincreasesinthenumber Potential impactstowaterqualityintheDeso 7.0.

M ONITORING R ECOMMENDATIONS anitation Programhasaregularwaterquality of seasonalandyear-roundresidences,mariculture ve samplesbecollectedduringa30-dayperiodin hat attractshugenumbersofboatersandkayakers are improvingorworseningovertime. lation Soundareaarelikelytoincreaseoverthe , chemistryandtoxicityinembayedareasis Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound purposes,itisrecommendedthatacomplimentary detrimental impactonthemaricultureindustryand occi aremostlikelytoexceedtheproposed Thisinformationcanbeutilizedbylanduse rm recommendationsweremadeaspartofthe h ofthemostpopularmoorages(GalleyBay, ace HarbourandRoscoeBay),aswellin on Soundincloseproximitytomariculture ForWaterQualityObjectivesAttainment contribution towardsprotectingtheresources ng thatdownstreamwaterresourcesarebeing primary concernforwaterqualityarethelevels onditions inOkeoverInletthatcanbeusedfor ter QualityReport(Freyman,2004).Following in thisreportarebeingmadeintoObjectives, ll asparkusagestatistics,itappearsthatthis

Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. Page 24

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Enterococci Fecal coliforms water uses Designated Characteristics Table 8-1.Summary ofWaterQuality Objectives proposedforDesolationSound. 8.0.

S UMMARY OF Less thanorequalto11MPN/100mL Less thanorequalto43MPN/100mL Less thanorequalto14MPN/100mL Less thanorequalto4MPN/100mL For theprotectionofabilityfor shellfish growing andharvesting, marine aquaticlifeandwildlife (not forshellfishclassification) Growing/Harvesting Areas Desolation SoundShellfish P median concentration median concentration ROPOSED 90 90 th th percentile percentile … … Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound W ATER Q UALITY Less thanorequalto Less thanorequalto recreation, marine 200 MPN/100mL Desolation Sound Primary-contact 20 MPN/100mL geometric mean geometric mean O aquatic lifeand Bathing Areas Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower BJECTIVES wildlife Surrey, B.C. Page 25

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Committee onthe Status ofEndangeredWildlife in Canada. 2005.Canadian Wildlife Service. [Online] Department ofFisheriesandOceans. Department ofFisheriesandOceans.2005b.Rock Resource InventoryCommission (RIC).1997.Guidelin Quality Phippen, Burke.2005.DRAFT.Water Nagpal, N.K., L.W. Pommen,Nagpal, N.K.,L.W. andL.G.Swain.2001.ACompendium Quality Water ofWorking Safe Drinking Water Regulation. 1992.Orderin C Atlas”, Accessed through Society Promoting Environmental Conservation “Community Drinking Water [Online] [Online] 2005 http://www-comm.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/pages/release/p-releas/2004/nr018_e.htm Ministry ofSustainable Resource Management (MSRM). August 2004.TheMalaspina OkeoverCoastal Qua Millar, Judy.1991.Water Matthews, Carmen. 2005personal communication. Ministry ofAgriculture, FoodandFisheries Marcus, Kerry.2005personalcommuni Kruzynski, G.M. 2000.Cadmium in BC farmed oysters: Areview ofavailable data, potential sources, Canada.1993.Guidelinesfor Health andWelfare Qu Canadian DrinkingWater Eyers, Dylan. 2005personal communication. Senior Ministry of Water, Land Ministry ofWater, 1.0. [Online] Consulting. Kamloops, BC. http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/wat/wq/BC Columbia. [Online]. British for Guidelines Access January, 2005. (mm) (ii)(B). Plan. [Online] Conservation Services, South Coast Region, BC Parks. Assessment Secretariat. Ottawa, Ontario. 37pp. research needsandpossiblemitigati . AccessedJanuary, 2005 http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/wat/wq/BCguidelines/approv_wq_guide/approved.html 2005. (Criteria) 1998Edition.[Online]. http://www.spec.bc.ca/project/project.php?projectID=20 http://www-sci.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/osap http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/risc/pubs/aquatic/interp http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/rmd/coas and AirProtection.1998.BritishColumb lity Sampling: SelectedMarine 2002.LongTerm PropertiesofBCInlets. TrendsinDeepWater L ITERATURE on studies.Department cation. Department ofFisher guidelines/working.html#table1 Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound fish ConservationAreasApril1,2004[Online] /projects/bcinle Assessment andObjectives:OkeoverInlet. BWP ouncil No.1072,July 3,1992.Health Act, Section 5 Park Ranger. BC Parks.Sunshine Coast Area. C tal/north_island/malaspina/ es forInterpretingWate ITED Parks –Baseline.Planningand ts/default_e.htm . AccessedJanuary, 2005. of FisheriesandOceans.CanadianStock

ia Approved Water QualityGuidelines ia ApprovedWater AccessedJanuary, 2005. ies andOceans.Nanaimo, BC. . AccessedJanuary, 2005 . AccessedJanuary, Ministry ofEnvironment Lower Mainland Region Lower r QualityDataVersion ality, FifthEdition.24p. . AccessedJanuary,

Surrey, B.C. Page 26

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Figure 1 Desolation Sound Overview Map. Figure 1DesolationSound Overview

Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C.

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ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

Figure 2.Comparisonofdaily average temperatureandprecipitation(measuredatEnvironment Canada

Temperature (degs C) and Flow (m3/s) 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 Water Survey Canada station). daily aver stationonCortesIsland)with weather a e a p a u u u e c o Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan age flow ratesontheTheodosiaRiver (measuredat age flow Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound Avg. Monthly Precipitation (mm) Monthly Precipitation Avg. (m3/s) Flow Daily Average Daily Average(°C) Temperature Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C. 0 50 100 150 200 250 Page 28

Average Monthly Precipitation (mm)

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Figure 3.DepartmentofFisheriesandOceans ManagementArea15.

Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C.

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Figure 4. Map showing Desolation Sound area with FocusAreaAsites. DesolationSoundareawith Figure 4.Mapshowing Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C.

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Figure 5. Map showing Desolation Sound area with FocusAreaBsites. DesolationSoundareawith Figure 5.Mapshowing Water Quality Assessment andObjectives: DesolationSound Ministry ofEnvironment Lower MainlandRegion Lower Surrey, B.C.

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