Forestry Water Quality Index – A planning tool for the assessment and communication of the impacts of forestry activities on water quality

Abstract

The assessment of the impacts of forestry activities on water quality is a critical component of forestry management and planning, especially when watersheds are being used for different water uses by different stakeholders. Traditional methodologies for assessing these impacts, while accurate, often do not take into account the intended use of water. Water quality data are inherently technical and are not conducive to communication to all stakeholders-especially the public. There is a need for a communications-based assessment tool that assesses the impact of forestry activities on water quality from the perspective of different water uses. This paper describes the development and application of such a tool, the Forestry Water Quality Index (FWQI). The FWQI has been developed specifically to capture, evaluate and communicate the impact of forestry activities on water quality to multiple stakeholders. Initially based on the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment's Water Quality Index, the FWQI was specifically adapted for applications in forestry management. Details of this adaptation and its methodology are outlined. Case studies from Newfoundland and Labrador illustrate the use of the FWQI for communication, performance evaluation, and planning and technical data analysis. The FWQI tool has the ability to compare pre-and post-forestry water quality data (communication), determine the effectiveness of best management practices (performance evaluation), predict water quality after forestry activities (planning) and evaluate seasonal variations in water quality (data analysis). These components provide useful information for the evaluation of the effects of forestry activities on water quality and to ensure sustainable forest management. It can be utilized by both forestry and water resources management to ensure sustainable development of the forestry sector.

A Review of Genesis and Evolution of Water Quality Index (WQI) and Some Future Directions

“…Since its inception and endorsement for use in Canadian jurisdictions, the CCME WQI has been implemented in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northern territories, the Atlantic provinces and Newfoundland & Labrador (Cash et al 2001;CCME 2001;Husain 2001;Sharma 2002;Khan et al 2003;Mercier and Leger 2003) and nationally (CESI 2008). Since 2005 there has been a spurt of studies published on the application of CCME WQI supporting its widespread use and versatility (Khan et al 2005;Environment Canada 2005;Mercier and Leger 2006;Dube et al 2006;Lumb et al 2006;Tobin et al 2007;Statistics Canada 2008;Rickwood and Carr 2009;de Rosemond et al 2009). From the experience with the CCME WQI implementation, both strengths and challenges of the index have come to light, including issues related to monitoring, communication and public expectation, inputs, interpretation, and the long-term feasibility studies of the quality aspects of water resources and financial commitment by governments.…”

A Comparative Study of USA and Canadian Water Quality Index Models

“…The water quality component in the CESI initiative is addressed through CCME WQI on the national level in Canada. In addition, the CCME WQI continues to be used by many provincial, territorial Environment Departments and watershed organizations (Dube et al 2006;Khan et al 2003Khan et al , 2005Lumb et al 2006;Mercier andLeger 2003, 2006;de Rosemond et al 2009;Tobin et al 2007) and it has also supported the development of sub-indices for reporting nutrients, pesticides, bacteria and metals (AB 2007;Hèbert 2005). The CCME WQI has been endorsed as a suitable model for assessing the quality of drinking waters globally by United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP GEMS 2007;Rickwood and Carr 2009).…”