Water quality reference documents
Last updated on December 10, 2025General
Policy
Protocols and procedures
- Derivation of Screening Values for Contaminants in Fish Tissue (2023) (PDF)
- Protocol for Derivation of Water Quality Guidelines for Protection of Aquatic Life (2019) (PDF, 1.1MB)
- Guidelines for Designing and Implementing a Water Quality Program (PDF)
- Guidelines for Interpreting Water Quality Data (PDF)
- Water Quality Index User's Manual (PDF)
Best management practices
Data analysis
- Improving Statistical Methods for Modeling Species Sensitivity Distributions (PDF)
- A Compendium of Water Quality Models (PDF, 10.3MB)
Sediment and fish tissue
- Metal Concentrations in Bottom Sediments from Uncontaminated B.C. Lakes (PDF, 7.9MB)
- Metal Concentrations in Fish Tissue from Uncontaminated B.C. Lakes (PDF, 3.1MB)
- White Sturgeon Tissue Sampling - Middle Fraser River (PDF, 1MB)
Water quality brochures
- Agriculture (PDF)
- Are You Killing Your Fish? (PDF)
- Blue-Green Algae (PDF)
- Boating (PDF)
- Fire Retardants and Water Quality (PDF)
- Non-Point Source Pollution (PDF)
- Onsite Sewage Systems (PDF)
- Urban Runoff (PDF)
- Swimmers’ Itch (PDF)
Analytical methods
- pH Determination and Measurement (PDF, 1.3MB)
- An Analysis of Sampling Frequency (PDF, 2.8MB)
- Comparing Field and Laboratory Filtration for Low Level Dissolved Ortho-Phosphorus (PDF)
- Comparison of pH Analytical Methods (PDF, 1.3MB)
- Magnitude-Duration Based Ecological Risk Assessment for Turbidity and Chronic Temperature Impacts: Method Development and Application to Millionaire Creek (PDF)
Field methods
- British Columbia Field Sampling Manual
- Field Sampling Methods for Giardia and Cryptosporidium (PDF)
- Sampling Strategy for Turbidity, Suspended and Benthic Sediments (PDF)
- Continuous Water-Quality Sampling Programs: Operational Procedures (PDF, 3.1MB)
- Collecting and Preserving Aquatic Plants (PDF, 2.6MB)
- Marine Monitoring Guidance (PDF, 542KB)
Aquatic plants and algae
Taxonomy of aquatic plants
- Identification Keys to the Aquatic Plants of B.C. (PDF)
- Aquatic Plant Survey of the Major Parks, Gardens, and other Tourist Attractions of Southern Vancouver Island and the Lower Fraser Valley (PDF, 1.7MB)
- Aquatic Plants of B.C. - Comprehensive Manual (PDF, 31.6MB)
- Aquatic Plants of B.C. - Common Names, References, Synonyms, Life-Form & Habitat Classification (PDF, 5.9MB)