A new report looking at changes in Shuswap water quality builds on years of research.

The Shuswap Watershed Council released an update to its 2020 report, which summarized a multi-year study on the quality and safety of regional bodies of water, conducted in partnership with the University of British Columbia Okanagan.

Two separate research projects have been ongoing on both the Shuswap and Mara lakes, with a goal to better understand nutrient input in both the bodies of water, reads the Shuswap Watershed Council鈥檚 (SWC) release.

Primary objectives of the research were to see where the nutrients in the Shuswap watershed are coming from, and to understand historic nutrient sources and conditions to see how they鈥檝e changed in the last few hundred years.

鈥淣utrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen are an important factor of water quality,鈥� explained Erin Vieira, program manager for the SWC. 鈥淲e tend to think of nutrients as a good thing 鈥� and they are if they鈥檙e balanced in an ecosystem. But, too many nutrients in a lake can trigger an algal bloom and that can pose a health risk, and it can impact our enjoyment of the lake and the tourism economy.鈥�

The first project was completed in 2019, and found a 鈥榩hosphorus budget鈥� in the Shuswap and Salmon rivers, meaning the settled valley bottoms where agriculture is the main land use is the biggest contributor of nutrients into the rivers, while the rivers鈥� headwaters are very low in nutrients. The budget was found by UBCO research teams collecting and sampling water from 100 different sites on the rivers.

A second project, completed in 2021, offers updated reports. Collection and analysis of sediment core from the bottom of Mara Lake, and paleolimnology studies that examine fossils in sediment to understand past environmental conditions show nutrient levels in Mara Lake have been rising for 40 years.

The SWC offers incentives and education to help residents reduce impacts on the watershed. The Water Quality Grant Program provides financial assistance to farms and stewardship groups to mitigate nutrient loss. Projects can include development of wetlands, riparian enhancements, regenerative agriculture practices and more.

Regulating sources of nutrients is a responsibility of provincial and federal governments, said the SWC.

鈥淲e鈥檝e made the authorities aware of our concerns about the algal blooms and about the research we鈥檝e done,鈥� said Jay Simpson, SWC chair. 鈥淲e鈥檙e at a point where excessive nutrients flowing into the lakes is a serious threat to water quality.鈥�

Vieira also responded to questions about wildfires and their impacts to the nutrient load.

She said it鈥檚 possible, and likely, nutrients will be increasingly flushed into lakes over the next few years. This concern has also been brought to the BC Ministry of Environment.

鈥淭he SWC hasn鈥檛 identified any specific new responses to mitigate the impact of the fires,鈥� she said. 鈥淗owever, our water quality grant program is geared to assist with that.鈥�

Projects like replanting in riparian areas could speed up 鈥榮hield, sponge and filter鈥� process in forests to store and filter water as it goes through a watershed, preventing erosion. Vieria acknowledged the grant program would only have a small impact when faced with the scale of the Shuswap wildfires of 2023.

The watershed council鈥檚 operation has been extended for a year following a rescheduled referendum, with a vote to decide its future planned for early 2024.

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