Chinese researchers develop innovative clinical diagnosis framework for water ecological health, enabling rapid detection and precise environmental monitoring strategies using advanced ecological indicators #WaterHealth #Sustainability

Mini cascading #waterfalls along #FellowsCreek - one of several tributaries that feed into the #KoksilahRiver. It's part of the Xwulqw’selu #Koksilah #Watershed on Southern #VancouverIsland.
Backroads access view. In Summer, it dries up in multiple areas.

Fellows Creek is part of the #TwinnedWatershedsProject, which is co-led by #CowichanWatershed Board, #CowichanTribes & #Halalt #FirstNation. It launched in 2021 to document the state of the watersheds & identify possibilities for improving their #ecological health. #Salmon are specifically being studied as part of this 5 year project because they are a #KeystoneSpecies that helps signal the health of a watershed.

The Xwulqw’selu & Chemainus watersheds are both located in the highly privatized, highly degraded landscape of southeast Vancouver Island & face similar issues. The #rivers and their #tributaries have been deeply impacted by land use & #ClimateChange. Unlike the neighbouring Quw’utsun (Cowichan) watershed, the Xwulqw’selu & Chemainus rivers have no lake to store water, which leaves them more vulnerable to drought & dangerously low flows.

Learn more about the Twinned Watersheds Project:
https://cowichanwatershedboard.ca/twinned-watershed

#BCWatersheds #WaterIsLife #PacificNorthwest #BritishColumbia #Cascadia #PNW #ecosystems #ProtectWatersheds #Nature #Streamkeepers #WaterMonitoring #WaterHealth #Environmental #WaterfallWednesday #Ecology #hydrology