Mainstreams has coordinated the WQMP since 2007 and has received funding for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. The program began as a result of recommendations from the Columbia Basin Watershed Network Symposium in 2005. A training program was held in Kimberley in 2006 and the WQMP was born a year later.
Partner groups follow the same Environment Canada CABIN protocol and are actively monitoring wadeable streams seven months per year. CABIN focuses on the health of benthic macro invertebrate populations and is used by governments across Canada.
WQMP exists as a result of the funding support from Columbia Basin Trust. The project has a Coordinator who chairs the WQMP Steering Committee.
Please use the contact form below to request additional information.
Vision:
To empower local watershed groups to engage in water quality monitoring
Mission:
To provide long-term, broad scale water quality data of local watersheds in the Canadian Columbia Basin
Goals:
- Develop a model for and carry out long-term community-based water quality monitoring
- Establish access to the resulting water quality data through web technology
- Provide water quality data to Basin residents in a user-friendly format
Currently, CBWQ has 8 Partner Groups
- Arrow Lakes Stewardship Society
- Slocan River Streamkeepers
- Salmo Watershed Streamkeepers
- East Shore Fisheries Habitat Stewards
- Cherry Creek Landowners
- Elk River Alliance
- Wildsight Invermere
- Wildsight Golden