In two small watershed (26,1 and 17,9 km2) in southwestern Quebec, hydrologic, climatologic and water quality parameters have been evaluated during a period of 3 years. In one of the watershed, an agronomist worked with the farmers to reduce the environmental impact of their practice on water and the other watershed was studied as an control or reference. The results showed that non point source pollution is the major problem in the watersheds and most water quality parameters were influenced with the precipitation pattern. Phosphorus and fecal coliforms where tow parameters that exceeded the water quality guidelines most frequently. Atrazine and metolachlor (pesticides) were also frequently detected. The data collected are very valuable toward a better understanding of watersheds and the dynamic of pollution on water quality. However most of the analysis has to be done to understand the effect of the measured parameters on the water quality of the watersheds and also to evaluate the impact of better management practices on the watershed. The database constructed with the information gather during the 3 years will be very valuable to develop and validate water quality models.

A lot of work has been done to gather information on water quality, hydrologic and climatic conditions on 2 watersheds. A lot of work needs to be done to analyze this information and make possible links with agricultural practices. The subsequent model development could help estimate management changes and could be a good prediction tool for the most promising practices to lower environmental impacts.