As climatic and development impacts continue to affect water and land conditions, having accurate and scientifically robust data is essential to understand the trends. Governments of all levels rely on local volunteers to provide local, detailed information to support science based management decisions.
Community Watershed Monitoring
Since 2011, the Regional District of Nanaimo, the BC Ministry of the Environment and Mosaic Forestry Management have been supporting fifteen volunteer groups in collecting watershed data in forty streams and rivers. QBS conducts this work in the Qualicum Beach area.
For five weeks in August and five weeks in October, volunteers travel to the upper reaches of the Little Qualicum River to take samples of water quality and temperature at a number of locations. In addition, similar sampling takes place in Grandon and Beach Creeks. This information is a key part of the government data base in protecting our watersheds.
See the RDN Community Watershed Monitoring page for a wealth of information on the Community Watership Monitoring network.
Streamflow Measurement
With the support of the RDN and the BCCF, datalogger instruments have been installed on Beach and Grandon Creeks to provide hourly readings on water flow levels. The information is downloaded annually and analyzed by provincial government specialists to determine year round details on water levels. The electronic data needs to be verified by periodic physical water flow measurements in the streams, which are carried out by QBS volunteers.
The Grandon Creek data logger has been in place since 2014, and was replaced in 2024 with RDN financial support. The Beach Creek datalogger was installed in 2020. In both streams, the data show a steady trend – streamflow peaks in winter months are continuing to reach higher levels, while stream flows in summer are becoming lower and of longer duration. These trends are resulting in more erosion and sedimentation in winter, and fewer pools of water for fish in summer.
The third contribution of the Qualicum Beach Streamkeepers in monitoring our streams is our participation in the annual wild fish count.
Stream mapping is also an important activity of Qualicum Beach Streamkeepers.