Publication of the 2023 surface water quality monitoring report (phase 1) of three Sutton watercourses

At the July 2024 council meeting, the Town of Sutton tabled the 2023 surface water quality monitoring report – Phase 1 carried out on three water courses: Sutton River, Alder Creek, Boyce/Santerre Creek. This analysis was carried out as part of the annual water quality monitoring program for watercourses and lakes in the interior of Sutton’s territory, adopted in June 2023.

TO VIEW THE REPORT, click here (in French only).

Water quality monitoring of the territory’s watercourses detects the presence of contaminants such as fecal coliforms (E. coli), phosphorus and suspended solids (SS). These contaminants can have an impact on the health and uses of people who swim, fish or kayak in the waterways, as well as on the integrity of watershed ecosystems (blue-green algae, siltation of spawning grounds, etc.).

In addition, monitoring the presence of these contaminants makes it possible to detect sources of pollution upstream of the sampling site (septic installations with discharges, sediment erosion on building sites, land, roads or ditches, manure spreading on riverbanks, etc.).

This new surface water quality monitoring program provides reliable data from laboratories accredited by the Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP).

Phase 2 is already underway, with monitoring of the Boyce/Santerre Creek watershed and the addition of 4 new stations, for a total of 5 stations to be sampled in 2024. Cook’s Creek, which runs alongside Schweizer Street, and Courser Creek (which runs through the hamlet of Glen Sutton) and empties into the Missisquoi River, will also be visited in 2024.

Municipal inspection

If high concentrations of contaminants are detected, the inspector notes the exceedances and, where possible, investigates potential sources of contamination upstream of the sampling site and in the watershed. Any necessary corrective action may be taken, and the water may be monitored in subsequent years.

In fact, monitoring of riparian buffer strips, septic systems and wastewater discharges into stormwater systems is already underway to detect any sources of contamination and correct them at source.

water turns brown after a rainfall, it is best to wait until it is clear again before taking a dip. It is normal for some exceedances of standards to be detected after heavy rains, since they wash large areas of land into surface waters.