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Technical Volume 11
Water Quality Impact

Volume 11 is an assessment of the potential impacts to water quality in the streams, ditches and water courses in the study area of the SFPR.

Gateway states that "historical water quality data were not available for water courses within the proposed SFPR footprint" (page i Executive Summary), and "Historical water quality data were not available for the Fraser River tributaries located along the SFPR alignment" Main Document 7.6.3.5 page 315),

However, they also state "historical water quality data in tributaries located in the study area were reviewed." (2.3.1 page 6), and it should be noted that a quote from the Corporation of Delta website states that "historical water quality data for a number of creeks within the Delta section of the SFPR was provided to Gateway.

The document recommends further study and this is emphasized by these statements and the fact that field sampling was conducted only once for baseline.

The key issue for this section is the fear that highway run-off will pollute these waterways, negatively affecting their habitat potential, and impacting the many species, (including rare, threatened, and extirpated), that use, inhabit, or could inhabit them.
Mitigation measures are not defined in this document more than "MOT best management practices" and while other volumes mention "catchments" and "biofilter" systems, there are no details as to what that would entail. These types of mitigation are usually ineffective during heavy or extended rain periods when sumps and biofilters are flushed of all the pollutants they hold and deposited into the creeks in a concentrated amount, and historically cannot handle the amount of discharge from a major motor vehicle accident, especially during a rain.

The proponent recognizes that most of these water courses are of the small variety and can easily be damaged, but even larger bodies like Burn's Bog and the Fraser River would suffer from increased concentrations of the metals, ions, organic compounds (e.g., PAHs, hydrocarbons, oil and grease), sand, road salt, and sediments that can be introduced via roadway run-off. This can have serious affects on water chemistry, changes in hydrology, and species habitat, not only from regular vehicle run-off, but by the introduction of vehicle parts, constant vehicle exhaust and possibly construction materials (e.g., lubricants and fuel).

It is the intention of local governments and its citizenry to protect and enhance our urban streams and Burn's Bog, and therefore it is recommended that further study be done to find mitigation measures that would live up to these ideals.

Reference locations in the document and the applied reasoning that resulted in this review summary will be coming soon.