ACAP Saint John - Annual Report 2016-2017

PROJECTS 2016-2017
A look at some of our cornerstone projects from the past year.
WATER RANGERS
SAINT JOHN WATER
The Water Rangers programme actively
engages local high school aged youth in water
quality monitoring within the city. Through
a partnership with Water Rangers, an NGO in
Ottawa, Ontario, participating students are
given a smartphone app platform to record,
save, and track their data over time while
contributing to a national citizen science
database.
Kits were given to interested local
high schools in the Fall to pair with
their environmental science class or
environmental group. To date, three local high
schools are participating in the programme
– Saint Malachy’s Memorial High School,
Saint John High School, and Harbour View
High School. The kits provide each group of
students with the ability to monitor water
quality (temperature, nitrate, nitrite, hardness,
alkalinity, and pH), and stream characteristics
such as width, velocity, stability, and flora and
fauna seen. Participants are also provided
guides to common fish and birds, safety kits,
and binoculars to allow them to observe
and learn while taking an active role in the
management of their environment.
Robertson Lake
The Robertson Lake stream habitat
assessment project is a multi-year monitoring
project contracted via Saint John Water. ACAP
was engaged to determine the probability of
fish survival should the water flow from the
dam at Robertson Lake be suspended due to
drought or emergency conditions. Baseline
data was obtained in 2015 and in 2016 the
monitoring was expanded to include seasonal
fluctuations in the water levels and quality. In
2017, ACAP will continue to monitor the water
levels and quality to determine annual and
seasonal variation over another field season,
with the project concluding in 2019.
Lorneville
The Lorneville water quality monitoring
regime was another project contracted
through Saint John Water and was completed
in 2016. The monitoring was executed due
to a leak at the Lorneville Road Sewage Lift
Station in 2015 and after two years of natural
rebound and monitoring, the unnamed
watercourse has returned to reference site
values.
18 Annual Report 2016-2017