Road Salt and Salmon Project

About

Specifically, this project asks:
To what extent is road salt contamination an issue in the Lower Mainland? (i.e., do creeks other than Stoney Creek experience spikes in conductivity as a result of road-salt contamination?)

MONITORING
Purpose: The primary purpose of the monitoring component is to quantify how much salt contamination is occurring in Lower Mainland streams. In addition to producing data, the Streamkeeper/BCIT monitoring project also specifically aims to support recommendations regarding road-salt application for roads that are varying distances from streams (based on conductivity trends/spikes); and the Secondary-school monitoring project specifically aims to spread awareness and facilitate public education regarding human impact on the environment (specifically the impact of road salt application on freshwater ecosystems / salmonids).

Water testing protocol

The most important data to collect are:
- conductivity, which measures the amount of salt in the water
- water temperature
- pH
- hardness
- Water depth estimate
- Weather for previous day and current day

Areas monitored