. Agri-news. Agriculture. September 3,2001 Monitoring helps agricultural industry protect water quality Water quality is a priority for Alberta's agricultural industry. A provincial monitoring program is one of the many efforts in Alberta to help farmers and ranchers better protect water quality. A new information package highlighting the results of the 1999 monitoring program was released in August 2001. The Alberta Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture (AESA) Program has established a long-term water quality monitoring network of streams draining 23 small agricultural watersheds. This prog
. Agri-news. Agriculture. September 3,2001 Monitoring helps agricultural industry protect water quality Water quality is a priority for Alberta's agricultural industry. A provincial monitoring program is one of the many efforts in Alberta to help farmers and ranchers better protect water quality. A new information package highlighting the results of the 1999 monitoring program was released in August 2001. The Alberta Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture (AESA) Program has established a long-term water quality monitoring network of streams draining 23 small agricultural watersheds. This program, called the AESA Stream Survey, is tracking trends in water quality over time as the agriculture industry grows and more environmentally sustainable practices are adopted. "Anything that happens on land - agriculture, forestry, and urbanization - can affect water quality," says Sandra Cooke, water quality specialist with Alberta Agriculture. Food and Rural Development, Edmonton. "Agriculture is doing its part to protect water quality. The AESA Stream Survey will help farmers and ranchers gauge whether they are maintaining or improving water quality in the agricultural areas of the province. "Each year, a Provincial Overview will be issued to summarize the program's findings for the previous year. In addition, water quality information for each of the 23 watersheds will be summarized in annual Watershed Reports. There is also a series of factsheets and a brochure that outlines background information about the ; The AESA Stream Survey monitors water quality by collecting stream samples that are analyzed for nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen; bacteria such as E. coli and fecal coliforms; and 40 pesticides, mostly herbicides. Samples are taken from March to October during high and low stream flows. Since water quality data tend to vary from year-to-year due to climatic variability, the purpose of this program is to monitor water quality
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