The Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance (PWA) has been monitoring water quality in the Petitcodiac River watershed for 13 years. Since 1999, the PWA has sampled multiple sites within the watershed with the help of the New Brunswick Department of the Environment and Local Government. In 2003, the Petit- codiac Watershed Alliance partnered with l’Université de Moncton to implement a cost effective long- term water quality program with financial support from the Environmental Trust Fund. The water qual- ity monitoring program allows the Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance to monitor such key parameters as: Bacteria Levels, Dissolved Oxygen, Water Temperature, Nutrients, T.D.S., Conductivity and pH.

The long-term data that has been collected by the PWA can now be used to determine changes, positive or negative, within sub-watersheds of the Petitcodiac and Memramcook Rivers. The major environmental problem that our watershed is facing is continual rapid growth. The pressure that this growth is putting on our watershed includes urbanization, where much of the natural surface area of the land is covered with pavement, changing the ability for the earth to absorb and naturally filter surface water. The resulting increase in surface water run-off allows more pollutants into our rivers. Other changes include industrial and agricultural growth which can both be linked to lower water quality and a measurable decrease in aquatic habitat quality.

The rivers sampled include:
Fox Creek
Rabbit Brook
Jonathan Creek
Petitcodiac River
Humphreys Brook
West Branch Halls Creek
Michaels Brook
Memramcook
Meadow Creek
Stoney Creek
Smith Creek
Breau Creek
South Branch Memramcook River
Mill Creek
Turtle Creek
Little River
Irishtown Reservoir
North River
McLaughlin Reservoir
Anagance River
Pollet River
Gorge Road Spring (Quality Control)