Water Quality - Hydrology
Objectives
There are a number of reasons for collecting information about water quality in the Styx River and its tributaries.
- To improve understanding of the current state of the water and providing base line information.
- To determine if changes in water quality are occurring over a period of time, particularly as land use in the surrounding areas change.
- To assess if water is suitable for various purposes (eg as a healthy habitat for fish and insects).
- To ascertain if any particular activities, such as storm water discharges, are having any impact on the quality of the waterway.
- To provide information for comparison with data collected from other waterways throughout Canterbury.
- To raise community awareness and understanding of the values of the Styx River and its environs.
To meet these objectives, data on the following parameters are collected by volunteers:
Background
The Community Water Quality Monitoring Programme began in 2002 when a pilot programme, to identify the issues and opportunities associated with implementing such a programme, was undertaken in conjunction with Waterwatch (Lincoln University) and members of the Guardians of the Styx. Since the completion of that pilot, volunteer members of the community now regularly monitor water quality at a number of sites throughout the catchment.
Note that monitoring was put on hold from February to August 2011 due to the earthquakes but resumed again in September 2011.
SHMAK kits are used for our monitoring program.
