Canada Water Act annual report for 2019 to 2020: chapter 4
4 Water Quality and Quantity Indicators
The Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI) program provides data and information to track Canada's performance on key environmental sustainability issues including climate change and air quality, water quality and availability, and protecting nature. The water quality and water quantity indicators are highlighted in this section.
Water quality in Canadian rivers indicator
The water quality indicator provides an overall measure of the ability of river water to support plants and animals. The indicator is calculated using the water quality index endorsed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment to summarize the status of surface freshwater quality in Canada. This indicator reflects the extent to which water quality guidelines for the protection of aquatic life are being met at selected river monitoring sites throughout Canada. Water quality at a monitoring station is considered excellent when substances in a river are very rarely measured above their guidelines. Conversely, water quality is rated poor when measurements are usually above their guidelines.
The water quality in Canadian rivers indicator released in January 2020 is based on data collected from 2002 to 2018 at 193 water monitoring stations across CanadaFootnote 1 , and reflects the diversity of watersheds in the country. The data were assembled from 16 federal, provincial, territorial, and joint water quality monitoring programs. The National Water quality indicator was calculated using a core national network of 174 river sites, selected to be representative of surface freshwater quality across southern Canada where human pressure is most intense (Figure 4a).
For the 2016 to 2018 period, water quality in rivers in Canada was rated fair to excellent at 80% of the monitored sites. More specifically, water quality measured at these river sites across southern Canada was rated as excellent for 9 sites (5%), good for 61 sites (35%), fair for 70 sites (40%), marginal at 30 sites (17%), and poor at 4 sites (2%) (Figure 4a). Water quality tends to be worse where there is agriculture, mining, high population density or a combination of these (mixed pressures) (Figure 4b).
Water Quality Categories
- Excellent
- Water quality is protected with a virtual absence of threat of impairment; conditions are very close to natural or pristine levels.
- Good
- Water quality is protected with only a minor degree of threat or impairment; conditions rarely depart from natural or desirable levels.
- Fair
- Water quality is usually protected but occasionally threathened or imparied; conditions sometimes depart from natural or desirable levels.
- Marginal
- Water quality is frequently threatened or impaired; conditions often depart from natural or desirable levels.
- Poor
- Water quality is almost always threatened or impaired; conditions usually depart from natural or desired levels.
Long description
| Land use category | Excellent | Good | Fair | Marginal | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 0 | 11 | 15 | 4 | 1 |
| Forestry | 1 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Mining | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Populated | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Mixed pressures | 3 | 22 | 40 | 20 | 3 |
| Undeveloped | 5 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 9 | 61 | 70 | 30 | 4 |
| Land use category | Excellent | Good | Fair | Marginal | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 0 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 1 |
| Forestry | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Mining | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Populated | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Mixed pressures | 2 | 13 | 23 | 11 | 2 |
| Undeveloped | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 5 | 35 | 40 | 17 | 2 |
Note: Water quality was evaluated at 174 sites across southern Canada using the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment's water quality index. For more information on land use classification, consult the CESI Water quality indicator’s Data sources and methods.
Source: Data assembled by Environment and Climate Change Canada from federal, provincial and joint water quality monitoring programs. Population, mining, and land cover statistics for each site's drainage area were provided by Statistics Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Government of Alberta and the University of Maryland.
Overall, water quality has not changed at a majority of sites across southern Canada between 2002 and 2018. Out of the 174 sites, there was improvement in water quality at 17% of sites, deterioration at 14%, and no change in water quality at 69% of the sites (Figure 5).
Long description
| Change | Number of sites | Percentage of sites |
|---|---|---|
| Improving water quality | 29 | 17 |
| Deteriorating water quality | 25 | 14 |
| No change in water quality | 120 | 69 |
| Total | 174 | 100 |
Note: The trend in water quality between the first year that data were reported for each site and 2018 was calculated at 174 sites across southern Canada. A Mann-Kendall test was used to assess whether there was a statistically-significant increasing or decreasing trend in the annual guideline deviation ratios at a site. The trend was calculated at each site using parameters specific to the site. A site may remain in the same water quality category (excellent, good, fair, marginal, or poor) despite having a statistically significant improving or deteriorating trend in its water quality. For more information on the trend, consult the CESI Water quality indicator’s Data sources and methods section.
Source: Data assembled by Environment and Climate Change Canada from federal, provincial and joint water quality monitoring programs.
Water quantity in Canadian rivers indicator
The water quantity in Canada rivers indicator, updated in January 2020, provides a summary of trends in water quantity in rivers across Canada from 2001 to 2017. The general trends illustrated in Figure 6 are as follows.
- From 2001 to 2017, most Canadian rivers had normal water quantity.
- Since 2010, there has been an increase in sites with a higher-than-normal water quantity
- The percentage of stations with a lower-than-normal water quantity has declined since 2001
Long description
| Year | Total number of stations | High quantity (percentage of stations) | Normal quantity (percentage of stations) | Low quantity (percentage of stations) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1241 | 5 | 68 | 27 |
| 2002 | 1237 | 5 | 79 | 16 |
| 2003 | 1254 | 2 | 76 | 21 |
| 2004 | 1253 | 9 | 85 | 7 |
| 2005 | 1247 | 22 | 74 | 4 |
| 2006 | 1242 | 11 | 78 | 11 |
| 2007 | 1248 | 12 | 80 | 9 |
| 2008 | 1245 | 10 | 86 | 4 |
| 2009 | 1256 | 8 | 82 | 10 |
| 2010 | 1252 | 20 | 73 | 8 |
| 2011 | 1226 | 26 | 68 | 7 |
| 2012 | 1279 | 17 | 70 | 13 |
| 2013 | 1224 | 26 | 68 | 6 |
| 2014 | 1212 | 31 | 61 | 8 |
| 2015 | 1119 | 23 | 64 | 13 |
| 2016 | 1009 | 31 | 56 | 13 |
| 2017 | 766 | 26 | 68 | 6 |
Note: The water quantity classification for a station is based on a comparison of the most frequently observed flow condition in a given year with typical water quantity at that station between 1981 and 2010. Data from Northern Quebec are missing for 2016 and 2017 and from the Arctic Coast-Islands for 2017 because of delays in getting data into the database. The results for this indicator vary slightly from those in the Regional water quantity in Canadian rivers indicator because of differences in the methods used to calculate the indicators. For more information, please see Data sources and methods.
Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada (2019) National Water Data Archive (HYDAT).
Page details
- Date modified: