Environmental Monitoring Equipment for Water Quality Monitoring and Agricultural Best Management Practice Research in the Muskrat Lake Watershed

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The Office of Applied Research at Algonquin College in Pembroke leads water quality monitoring and the implementation of agricultural best management practices in the Muskrat Lake watershed, located in the County of Renfrew, Ontario. The Muskrat Lake watershed is a eutrophic watershed experiencing frequent blue-green algae blooms resulting from nutrient pollution. Past and current projects in the watershed include quantifying the benefits of buffer strips, installing and monitoring controlled tile drainage, testing remediation technologies, measuring crop biomass, conducting soil analysis for nutrient management, and monitoring weather and climate conditions. Implementing a diversity of agricultural best management practices represents a multi-pronged approach to tackling non-point source pollution. Pollution pathways are broad and varied, from groundwater and surface runoff to erosion and cattle entering waterways. Projects that tackle multiple pathways can improve many ecosystem components. Additional field monitoring equipment for these projects will increase capabilities for monitoring soil, water, weather/climate, and crop health, ultimately safeguarding the continuation of projects and supporting the exploration of new projects in the agri-environmental sector. In addition, the equipment will support new viticulture research in the watershed by assisting a start-up company gather environmental data to explore new methods and techniques for growing less tolerant grapevine species in cold climate regions.