The goal of the characterization of Vaudreuil-Soulanges agricultural watersheds was to increase our knowledge to assess the state of watersheds, the sources of contamination and identify priority interventions. This project was funded by the Conférence régionale des élus (CRE) Vallée-du-Haut-Saint-Laurent; the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ); the Pacte rural (CLD-VS and MRC-VS) program; the Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les Changements Climatiques (MDDELCC) and the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Caisse Desjardins.
The first phase of this project, environmental characterization, was completed in October 2012. COBAVER-VS intended to gain recent data on river water quality in an agricultural area. This characterization was essential to target the most disturb watersheds and the sources of contamination. Moreover, the Riparian quality index (Indice de qualité des bandes riveraines (IQBR)) and the identification of erosion sites were useful to prioritize future interventions.
The second phase, awareness and education, was completed in 2013. The objective was to improve usage in agricultural watersheds to reduce water quality impacts.