Abstract
<jats:p>Water is essential for life, and steps are needed to understand, protect and restore its health in fish habitat throughout British Columbia. The Raincoast Healthy Waters program was launched in 2023 to establish community-oriented water pollution monitoring in select BC watersheds. Two Healthy Waters sampling events take place every year in each watershed: the dry season (summer), and the wet season (winter). This wet season report from winter 2024-25 highlights results from one sampling event: the third seasonal sampling, which followed the first dry season in 2024 and wet season 2023. This was carried out with the support and participation of the Capital Regional District (CRD) and Tsartlip First Nation. Briefly, the Healthy Waters team sampled the Tod Creek watershed on November 20, 2024. The team worked with CRD, Tsartlip First Nation and community volunteers to first determine basic water properties (temperature, conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen and turbidity) in situ. Water samples were collected from six water categories, including source water (3 samples), stream and river water (3 samples), road runoff (3 samples), tap water (10 samples - 9 from the Sooke supply and 1 from groundwater were pooled into a single composite sample) and marine water (3 samples), alongside surface water samples collected in the areas surrounding the Hartland landfill (1 sample). The samples were pooled into composites by category and then analysed for coliform (3), nutrients (6), physical parameters, metals (37), pesticides (62), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs; 76), pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs; 141), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs; 209), alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs; 4), bisphenols (BPs; 6), per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS; 40), sucralose and 6PPD-Quinone. We detected 105 contaminants out of 577 measured in the stream and river category - i.e. fish habitat - for the Tod Creek watershed, excluding nutrients, fecal coliform and physical parameters. This suggests that, overall, Tod Creek water quality during the wet season was moderate. Additional sampling and an integrated exploration of all data will provide additional insight into the activities that are impacting the health of this valued watershed.</jats:p>