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Water Quality Objectives

Last updated on June 11, 2026

Protection and objectives

Water quality protection is essential to support ecosystems, human health, and shared water values.

Water Quality Objectives (WQOs) provide guidance and policy direction for water use and managing water environments.

WQOs are established on a priority basis for freshwater, estuarine, and marine bodies of water with regional, provincial, inter-provincial, and international significance.

WQOs are used to:

  • Inform resource management decisions
  • Identify which values should be addressed based on local concerns
  • Promote water stewardship, and
  • Support long-term planning in communities across B.C.

WQOs are numbers or statements representing low-risk conditions to provide protection for a specific body of water and its associated water values.

Such water values include:

  • Drinking water sources
  • Aquatic life and its habitat
  • Wildlife and its habitat
  • Agriculture (livestock watering and irrigation)
  • Recreational use and aesthetics
  • Traditional, cultural and social uses

Objectives are informed by a site-specific water quality assessment using:

  • B.C. approved water quality guidelines, or similar information
  • The values identified for the body of water
  • The desired level of protection, and
  • Local and Indigenous knowledge

The development of WQOs is a collaborative process.

Collaborative efforts may include partnerships with other levels of government, including First Nations.

New water quality objectives

Review the latest policy directions for specific bodies of water:

Regional reports

WQO reports are organized according to provincial regions:

Draft reports

Draft policy reports are available to the public:

Related resources

General guidance for how WQOs are determined:

Water quality data is available for download.

Use this data to develop water quality objectives.

Water quality reports can be found in the Ecological Reports Catalogue (EcoCat):