Tributary Monitoring in the Lesser Slave Watershed

Written by Lesser Slave Watershed Council

May 2, 2019

The Lesser Slave Watershed is a sub-basin of the much larger Athabasca Watershed.  There is a historical lack of data and monitoring within the basin.  However, the Lesser Slave Watershed Council, a Watershed Planning and Advisory Council that operates in the region, is working on changing that.  

Currently the council is in their second year of a tributary monitoring program.  This program, recommended in the  Lesser Slave Watershed Management Plan, collects consistent quality data that will fill major data gaps and inform future land and water management decisions in the watershed.

The LSWC would like to thank all of our sponsors and supporters for making this program possible. Especially Vanderwell's Contractors who have made a 5-year commitment of financial support to the program which will enable us to collect much needed baseline data; we would also like to recognize West Fraser, Vermillion Energy, Summerland Energy Inc., The Town of High Prairie and Big Lakes County for their Support.  Lastly, we would like recognize Swan River First Nation as Project Partners, we have been able to collaborate and collect more detailed water quality information for our three sites on the Swan River.

For more information on the Lesser Slave Watershed Council and their Tributary Monitoring Program you can visit:  https://www.lswc.ca/water_quality_monitoring where the 2017 sampling results summery is available for download.  You can also email  info@lswc.ca or call the office at 780-523-9800. 

Explore LSWC tributary monitoring program data on DataStream

Person monitoring water in the Lesser Slave Watershed

About the Author

The Lesser Slave Watershed Council (LSWC) is group of volunteers and board members who work with the provincial government to maintain the health of the Lesser Slave Watershed by delivering on the three Water for Life goals in the watershed. These include: safe, secure drinking water; healthy aquatic ecosystems; and reliable, quality water supplies for a sustainable future.

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