City of Surrey and Water Rangers!

Healthy streams = Healthy fish 

Welcome to the City of Surrey’s Water Monitoring Action Project! This page is your hub for all things related to the initiative. Water Rangers is proud to partner with the City of Surrey to provide residents with the tools and knowledge to engage in community science, monitor local salmon-bearing streams, and help protect Surrey’s waterways.

About the project

Surrey is home to over 1,400 km of creeks and rivers, including the Little Campbell, Nicomekl, and Serpentine Rivers, with the Fraser River forming the northern border.  Many of these water bodies support salmon and trout, but urban development puts their habitats at risk. Researchers and Surrey’s Salmon Habitat Restoration Program (SHaRP) members study these habitats, but they need regular water quality data to understand if creeks stay cool and oxygenated in summer and safe for fish eggs in winter.

We need your help! Local volunteers can adopt a creek, test water quality, and share their observations. Your data will help fill critical gaps, giving researchers a clearer picture of how to protect fish habitats for future generations.

The problem

Urban development has increased pollution and disrupted creek health. Key challenges include:

• Sedimentation & pollutants – Runoff carries heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and debris from roads and construction.
• Water temperature & flow changes – Summer heat and low water levels stress fish, while winter stormwater runoff can warm creeks unnaturally, affecting salmon eggs.
• Road salt impacts – Used in fall and winter, road salt alters water chemistry and can harm aquatic life.

By testing and reporting on local creeks, you can play a vital role in protecting Surrey’s fish populations.

Get started!

Take action to care for your local creek! Work alongside researchers to monitor Surrey’s streams by collecting water quality data to help identify key fish habitats and protect them from pollution and climate change.

Using Water Rangers’ water quality test kits, residents in Surrey can collect water quality data and upload it to Water Rangers’ open-source data platform.

Surrey residents

Help monitor your local creek! Residents can adopt a creek or stream and use Water Rangers’ test kits to track changes in water quality throughout the year.

We’ll be running two seasonal monitoring campaigns:

• Summer Heat Campaign – Measure how rising temperatures impact local creeks and aquatic life.
• Winter Road Salt Campaign – Test for chloride levels to assess the effects of road salt on water quality.

Want to take your stewardship further? Join one of our Streamkeeper workshops this fall to gain hands-on training in habitat restoration and water monitoring. Sign up for our newsletter to stay updated!

Educators

Bring real-world science into your classroom! Schools in Surrey can integrate water testing into their curriculum, allowing students to contribute valuable data to the City of Surrey’s monitoring efforts.

Students will use Water Rangers’ Education Kit to monitor key fish habitats, track seasonal water quality changes, and help researchers understand how pollution and climate change impact local streams.

Teachers can choose from different project models, including:

• 5 in 30 sampling – Schools collect water samples once a week for five weeks using Water Rangers’ test kits and lab bottles. These samples will be analyzed for coliforms, nutrients, metals, and suspended solids.
• Winter road salt study – Using our Winter TestKit, students can track chloride levels and explore the effects of road salt on local creeks.

Want to get involved? Educators can reach out to learn how to integrate test kits into their lessons and become part of this exciting community science initiative!

Learning resources

Explore curated resources to help you understand and analyze water quality data:

Water testing parameters – Learn about the parameters you will be testing for: air temperature, water temperature, conductivity, chlorine, pH, alkalinity, hardness, turbidity, and chloride.

Project blog posts – Learn about Surrey’s waterways from local experts and stay up to date on the City’s water monitoring efforts. [Link to blog posts]

About us

Water Rangers is a Canadian non-profit dedicated to empowering communities to steward local waters by providing accessible, easy-to-use water quality monitoring test kits and hosting an open-source data platform. Our kits and platform are used by community monitoring groups, educators, and conservation authorities to better understand and protect local water bodies.