| Elevated levels of dissolved organic carbon can lead to the formation of harmful disinfection by-products during drinking water disinfection. This project was undertaken to evaluate the effect of a defoliating forest insect, the western hemlock looper, on dissolved organic carbon concentrations in the Coquitlam and Seymour watersheds, two of the Greater Vancouver Regional District's water supply watersheds. A water quality monitoring program was conducted over an eight month period in 2002 to determine the effect of a western hemlock looper outbreak on stream and reservoir dissolved organic carbon concentrations.; Consistent with the support in the 2002 GVRD Watershed Management Plan for minimum intervention in natural ecological processes, no direct intervention in the western hemlock looper outbreak is recommended at this time. Instead, further monitoring and continued research is recommended to evaluate both the long-term effects of the outbreak on dissolved organic carbon and the short- and long-term effects of the outbreak on nutrient cycling. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
