Cheakamus River Water License Requirements ... - BC Hydro

Cheakamus River Benthic Community Monitoring, Progress Report 21
tasks have been completed. These communications will provide information on new and
novel findings that arise from field sampling, ongoing analyses, and data compilations.
The database will allow us to create queries for specific parts of the multifaceted
dataset for various analyses with relative ease. The database will also be part of final
deliverables.
The database is under development. All information is structured around a
‘sampling event’ that is defined as an episode when data is collected or recorded in the
field. Each sampling event is linked to a ‘Sites’ and an ‘Events’ table that provides a way
to connect the data to when and where it was collected. For import into the database,
data are compiled in Excel spreadsheets by ‘sample type’ (e.g. periphyton accrual,
periphyton taxonomy, invertebrate counts, invertebrate biomass, water quality analytes).
Figure 4 shows the relationship between core database tables and one of the sample
types, in this case benthic invertebrate counts. The ‘Sites’ table contains fixed location
information including the station (site name) and replicate number (sub area). The
‘Events’ table describes the date and time the event started and ended, along with the
sample type, season, and any comments. Some types of sampling events are also
linked to a ‘Site_Attributes’ table that contains habitat data measured at the time of a
sampling event. Attributes can include wetted width, water depth over sampler,
instantaneous temperature, turbidity, the number of days since installation, water
velocity at the sampler, and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). For tracking and
administrative purposes, each record in the database is linked to an ‘Import’ table where
metadata such as the date of import, type of data imported, and name of the original
excel file are recorded. The benthic invertebrate and periphyton data (counts and
biomass or biovolume) are also linked to a ‘Taxonomic groups’ table. In the benthic
invertebrate example, this table is undergoing modifications to allow the data to be
imported at the lowest taxonomic level (e.g. genus) and exported at taxonomic levels
defined by the user (e.g. common name, groups defined by the user, or family level).
Benthos and habitat data from 1996, 1999-2000, and 2005 is being used to test
upload and download scripts. This testing results in modifications that lead to further
testing until scripts are found to be error free. Testing is expected to be complete by May
31 2009, ready for upload of available data at that time. Other adjustments are also in
progress to add variables to existing tables. All measurements recorded during each
sampling series including water chemistry analytes, benthic invertebrate counts and
biomass, periphyton counts and biomass, and other habitat attributes listed in Section 2
will be included in the database tables by May 31, 2009. The database will be populated
with new data as it becomes available.
Limnotek/InStream
November 2009