Rebirth of Water - 2017-2018

Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L)
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Upstream
Downstream
04-Jun-17
25-May-17
14-Jun-17
24-Jun-17
04-Jul-17
14-Jul-17
24-Jul-17
03-Aug-17
13-Aug-17
23-Aug-17
Date
Figure 3.9.A: Dissolved oxygen concentrations from both the upstream (site 22) and downstream (site
23) stations within the Mispec River watershed over the entire 2017 field season.
4.0 CONCLUSION
The water quality monitoring completed this year formed the sixth year of intensive monitoring
within the Marsh Creek watershed as well as baseline and second-year follow up monitoring within
an additional eight watersheds throughout the Greater Saint John area. This monitoring continues
to provide good quality data to gauge changes in the quality of water, where improvements could
be made, and ensure that the urban watersheds of Saint John are capable of supporting aquatic
life.
Overall, the water quality monitoring conducted over the 2017 field season has revealed that the
majority of the watersheds assessed provide adequate water quality to support aquatic life.
Although, most of the watersheds assessed have some issues associate with their location in urban
or suburban areas such as stormwater inputs, riparian encroachment, and modifications of their
natural flows; these impacts either have minor impacts to the watercourse or additional areas within
the watershed meet the habitat requirements needed to support an array of aquatic life.
Additionally, the Marsh Creek watershed continues to show improvements year after year since
the completion of Harbour Cleanup and the cessation of sewage dumping into Saint John’s
waterways and harbour indicating that changes in human behavior and better management of our
waterways can result in profound improvement to water quality and aquatic habitat.
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