Water Quality Report Cards by Watershed

The Department has developed a scoring system to report on water quality in watersheds, so that Islanders can see the general health of water and compare it to that of other PEI watersheds. 

What is being reported on?

Each watershed is scored on:

• The groundwater nitrate concentration.
• The number of anoxic events occurring in the last five years.
• The number of fish kills occurring in the last ten years.
• The general frequency of siltation events.
• The general frequency of other issues such as groundwater nitrate concentrations, algae blooms and elevated water temperatures.

Also included:

• Maps showing the location and boundaries of each of the 115 watersheds covered;
• Watershed size and land use statistics;
• Overview of the status of water quality in the watershed;
• Water quality data up to 2020; and
• Water quality categories for individual creeks and streams (sub-watersheds) of some of the larger watersheds. 

What resources are available?

Data regarding watershed report cards is now located within the PEI Water Registry. You can also navigate directly to the Watershed Report Cards section of the Registry. 

Several documents related to the data are available for download:

• 2022 PEI Watershed Water Quality Report Cards (previous years are available in the PEI Water Registry)
• Methodology for the PEI Water Quality Score (PEI WQS)
• Detailed Scoring Data

The PEI Water Quality Report Cards data is updated on an annual basis.