Judy Sewell, Project Manager for the Drinking Water Source Protection program at the Nickel District Conservation Authority Anoop Naik, Water Resources Engineer at the Nickel District Conservation Authority
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Bob Little had asked me what kind of information we have on water quality for the Vermilion River – we don’t have a lot, but we will show you what we do have, and Linda had asked me about a survey on river depths and flows we did on the Vermilion last fall, so we will show you what we found there too.
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We cover the three major watersheds that occur in the City of Greater Sudbury with this program
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Anoop and one of our consultants went out last September to get a better handle on flow rates in the Vermilion River upstream of the intake. Anoop also does the water quality sampling, so he will speak with you about both of these topics. Anoop: Field Work for the IPZ study was completed on September 17, 2010 for the Vermilion River. The objective of the field work was to collect river bed cross sections, velocity profiles and general river reconnaissance. Highlights of the field work, Study Reach 2.7 km from Cascades Falls up to the next set of rapids 8 Sonar Cross Sections (in-stream, bank-to-bank) and 3 manual cross sections River Width – ranged 50 – 260 m Maximum River Depth seen in this area - 24 m
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Depth 24 m at deepest point 21 m / 70 ft deep at deepest point in this cross section Average cross sction velocity 0.039 m/s Maximum cross section velocity 0.059 m/s
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12 m/39 ft deep Average cross sction velocity 0.038 m/s Maximum cross section velocity 0.049 m/s
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15.5 m / 51 ft deep Average cross sction velocity 0.042 m/s Maximum cross section velocity 0.070 m/s
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This is a picture taken at the Vermilion River intake The surface water quality information from streams at locations across Ontario is collected as part of Provincial Water Quality Monitoring Network (PWQMN). The network has 390 monitoring stations operated in partnership with 30 conservation authorities across Ontario. This partnership has been operating in the area since 1964, with a short hiatus in the late 1990s. The conservation authorities obtain water samples and readings of water quality at the monitoring locations using portable hand-held equipment. Selected sites are sampled from eight to twelve times a year for selected water quality parameters. For which the MOE lab performs the laboratory analysis. The standard set of water quality indicators monitored at each PWQMN station includes chloride, nutrients, suspended solids, trace metals and other general chemistry parameters. Provincial Water Quality Monitoring Network (PWQMN) information is one of the main sources of surface water information used by the ministry to evaluate applications for certificates of approval and permits to take water and to develop water quality standards.
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The PWQO and ODWS standards are compared in the last two columns. Local land use and past mining impacts are considered while selecting the water quality parameters
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Provincial Water Quality Objective for Nickel is 25 ug/L Data available from 2007 to 2010 Decreasing trend in nickel concentration Sampling location is at the water intake
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Sampling location is at the water intake
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Sampling location is at the water intake
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Water quality data available from 1972 River flows through some of the major urban developments Sampling location is close to where the Whitson flows into the Vermilion
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Sampling location is close to where the Whitson flows into the Vermilion
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Data available from 1968 to 2010 PWQO for Nickel is 25 ug/L Decreasing Nickel concentration but average concentration exceeds PWQO by a huge margin Sampling site is down stream of Kelly Lake at Fielding Road – near Fielding Park
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Flows through the urban area and sampling site is down stream of Kelly Lake at Fielding Road – near Fielding Park
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