Government of British Columbia: Ministry of Environment: Water Quality Guidelines for Arsenic
Ambient Water Quality Guidelines for Arsenic
Overview Report
Prepared pursuant to Section 2(e) of the
Environment Management Act, 1981
Table of Contents
Summary
Preface
Recommended Guidelines
1 Raw Drinking Water Supply
2 Aquatic Life
3 Agriculture
4 Wildlife
Application of Guidelines
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data.
Main entry under title.
Ambient water quality guidelines for arsenic [electronic resource].
Available on the Internet.
Also available in printed form on demand.
Based on the Canadian Council of Ministers of Environment (CCME)
Water Quality Guidelines for Arsenic (2001 update). Cf. Summary.
Includes bibliographical references: p.
ISBN 0-7726-4703-8
1. Water quality - Standards - British Columbia. 2. Arsenic - Environmental aspects - British Columbia. 3. Subject - British Columbia. I. British Columbia. Water Protection Branch. II. Title
TD227.B7A45 2002 363.738'4 C2002-960021-9
Approved:
_________________ | _____________________________ |
Date | Assistant Deputy Minister |
Summary
This document is one in a series which establishes ambient water quality guidelines for British Columbia. It is based on the Canadian Council of Ministers of Environment (CCME) Water Quality Guidelines for Arsenic (2001 update). This overview report assesses those guidelines for use in British Columbia.
The guidelines are safe conditions or levels which have province-wide application and are set to protect various water uses. This report sets guidelines for arsenic, as appropriate, to protect drinking water, freshwater and marine aquatic life, irrigation, and livestock watering. The CCME guidelines were judged to be sufficiently protective of water uses in the province of British Columbia and were adopted without change.
The guidelines are summarized in Table 1.
A major use of the guidelines is to set ambient water quality objectives. The objectives are the guidelines modified or adopted to protect the most sensitive designated water use in a particular body of water. The objectives are used in the preparation of waste management plans, pollution prevention plans, waste management permits, orders, or approvals. The latter three are the only documents that have legal standing.