Monitoring equipment installed on the Pine River

Additional monitoring is underway in the Pine River watershed as part of a partnership project to develop a Rural Stormwater Management Model for the Healthy Lake Huron initiative.

Saugeen Valley Conservation has been leading monitoring work on the Pine River, with additional funding from the County of Bruce.

Staff have been busy over the last year setting up monitoring equipment and analyzing stream data to gain a better understanding of this section in the South Pine River watershed.

A temporary monitoring site has been installed in the upper reaches of the South Pine River branch, draining an area of almost 11 sq. km.

The site was chosen because this section of the river is very similar to the overall watershed in flow characteristics, physiography, hydrology and soils characteristics.

The system is also very reactive and responsive to most storm runoff events.

The installation includes an instream level logger, which provides an hourly record of fluctuating water levels in the river.

Downstream from this temporary station, an automated water quality sampler was installed at a pre-existing, permanent monitoring site near Ripley, where hydro is accessible to run the equipment.

By the end of 2012, staff had measured flow and discharge data from seven storm runoff events.

Due to the drier than normal conditions in 2012, more data will be collected in 2013 to provide a better picture of what typically occurs in the river during and following storms.

A rating curve will be developed to provide a better understanding of the volumes and rate of discharge at this smaller section of the watershed and how this information relates to the entire watershed.

On a broader scale, the results of monitoring on the Pine River will be a valuable component of the Healthy Lake Huron project and the development of a Rural Stormwater Management Model.