Environment Environnement Canada Canada

1. Environment Environnement Canada Canada National Water Quality Indicator for Canada Rob Kent National Water Quality Monitoring Office National Water Research Institute Environment Canada UN International Work Session on Water Statistics Vienna, Austria June 20-22, 2005

2. Environment Environnement Canada Canada Outline: • Background, context • Data generation - monitoring • Canadian Water Quality Index and Reporting out • Benefits and challenges • Conclusions

3. Environment Environnement Canada Canada Background • Consistent a top priority for Canadians • Increased public concern and decreased confidence in water safety • External criticism of current status • Commitment to better inform Canadians on national water quality • Respond to Canadian values on water: drinkable, swimmable, fishable, available

4. A modern integrated approach …moving beyond “taking the sample” Functional Elements: Program Design - objectives Methods development, Lab support Research support Data management Interpretive tools/guidance Reporting, indicators and information systems Partnerships / Outreach National co-ordination Environment Environnement Canada Canada

5. Environment Environnement Canada Canada Water Quantity Monitoring

6. Water Quality Monitoring

7. National Roundtable on the Environment and Economy Environment and Sustainable Development Indicators • Understandable indicators to track whether Canada's current economic activities threaten the way of life for future generations • Track natural assets - including the ecosystem services that are crucial to sustaining the economy in the long term • Water Quality: Canadian WQI as the Freshwater Quality Indicator Environment Environnement Canada Canada

8. Environment Environnement Canada Canada The CWQI and Reporting Out

9. Environment Environnement Canada Canada

10. Environment Environnement Canada Canada National Water Quality Indicator Initiative Vision:Canadians will recognize and use the WQ Indicator as a trusted source of information on national water quality • Sustainability of major water uses: • Source water for drinking • Water for recreation • Water for agriculture (livestock, irrigation) • Water for aquatic life • Water for industrial uses Rob Kent, Janine Murray, Don Andersen and Chris Lochner Water Quality Monitoring Branch National Water Research Institute Joint CWRA - Government of Canada Workshop: Building Relationships for Integrated Water Resource Management Ottawa, February 6, 2004

11. Environment Environnement Canada Canada National Water Quality Indicator Framework Natural Environment Water Quality and Aquatic Ecosystems a. Protected areas (e.g., National Parks) b. Areas impacted by human activity Human Health Water Quality and Human Exposure Rob Kent, Janine Murray, Don Andersen and Chris Lochner Water Quality Monitoring Branch National Water Research Institute Joint CWRA - Government of Canada Workshop: Building Relationships for Integrated Water Resource Management Ottawa, February 6, 2004 a. Consumption - Source waters for drinking b. Recreation - beach closures, aesthetics Competitiveness Water Use and Availability a. Industrial uses b. Agriculture uses

12. Canadian WQI • Scope (F1) - number of variables not meeting water quality objectives • Frequency (F2) - the number of times the objectives are not met • Amplitude (F3) - the extent to which objectives exceeded. Environment Environnement Canada Canada

13. CWQI rating system Environment Environnement Canada Canada

14. F1Scope • Scope assesses the extent of compliance with water quality guidelines over the time period of interest. • F1 indicates the percentage of parameters, whose guidelines are not met. • F1 = Number of Failed Variables • Total Number of Variables More Statistics… X 100 Environment Environnement Canada Canada

15. F2Frequency • Assesses the frequency with which guidelines are not met. • F2 indicates the percentage of individual tests which do not meet guidelines (i.e. “failed tests”) • F2 = Number of Failed Tests • Total Number of Tests More Statistics… X 100 Environment Environnement Canada Canada

16. Environment Environnement Canada Canada F3 Amplitude • Amplitude assesses the amount by which guidelines are not met. • F3 indicates the amount by which failed test values do not meet their guidelines, and is calculated in 3 steps. • The number of times an individual concentration exceeds a guideline is termed an excursion. More Statistics… • When the test value must not exceed the guideline: { } • Failed Test Valuei - 1 excursioni = Guidelinej • When the test value must not fall below the guideline: • Guidelinej • Failed Test Valuei { } - 1 excursioni =

17. Environment Environnement Canada Canada F3Amplitude (cont.) • The collective amount by which individual tests are out of compliance with guidelines is calculated by summing the excursions of individual tests, and dividing by the total number of tests which failed guidelines. • This variable is referred to as the normalized sum of excursions, or nse. More Statistics… n ∑excursionsi i=1 nse = # of tests F3 is then calculated to yield a value between 0 and 100 { } • nse • 0.01 nse + 0.01 F3 =

18. Typical Applications • Selected parameters (~10) related to water use at monitoring site • Most appropriate ambient WQ guidelines or objectives (site-specific) • 3yr average values from at least 9 periods; or stratified use of CWQI over specific periods (freshet, recession and base flow) Environment Environnement Canada Canada

19. Environment Environnement Canada Canada Benefits and Challenges

20. CWQI – What does it do? • Communication tool – transforms complex water quality data into understandable descriptions (e.g., good, fair, poor) • Scientific rigor - maximum use of monitoring data • Consistent use and interpretation across distributed jurisdictions • Applies to all beneficial water usesi.e., socio-economically relevant • Amenable to multiple reporting scales - local, regional and national scales of reporting Environment Environnement Canada Canada

21. CWQI – From data to knowledge Environment Environnement Canada Canada

22. Environmental Sustainability Index 2005 (World Economic Forum; Yale/Columbia University research) Canada- Overall rank 6th out of 146 countries Global Stewardship 133/ 146 Environmental Systems 4 / 146 Environmental Stresses 104/ 146 Human Vulnerability 2/ 146 Social and Institutional Capacity 14 / 146 Science/Technology Private Sector Responsiveness Environmental Governance Eco-Efficiency Participation in International Collaborative Efforts Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reducing Trans- boundary Environmental Pressures Air Quality Water Quantity Water Quality Biodiversity Terrestrial Systems Reducing Air Pollution Reducing Water Stress Reducing Ecosystem Stresses Reducing Waste and Consumption Pressures Reducing Population Pressure Natural Resource Management Basic Human Sustenance Environment-related Natural Disaster Exposure Environmental Health 6

23. Environment Environnement Canada Canada

24. Environment Environnement Canada Canada Expressing Results Nationally(NRTEE Report 2003) Rob Kent, Janine Murray, Don Andersen and Chris Lochner Water Quality Monitoring Branch National Water Research Institute Joint CWRA - Government of Canada Workshop: Building Relationships for Integrated Water Resource Management Ottawa, February 6, 2004

25. Environment Environnement Canada Canada Spatial Framework

26. Environment Environnement Canada Canada Other Challenges • Integrating physical, chemical and biological measurements and processes • Spatial scale; aggregating results • Weighting of F1,2,3 • Natural phenomena vs human impacts • Best scientific judgement Rob Kent, Janine Murray, Don Andersen and Chris Lochner Water Quality Monitoring Branch National Water Research Institute Joint CWRA - Government of Canada Workshop: Building Relationships for Integrated Water Resource Management Ottawa, February 6, 2004

27. Environment Environnement Canada Canada Conclusion • Water quality indicator integrating all data into socially relevant “report card” – within distributed multijurisdictional model • Continuous improvement • Credibility through expert judgement • Start at integrating water quality and quantity measures into natural capital accounting • Key to behavioural change, strengthened measurement capacity and enhanced resource management performance Rob Kent, Janine Murray, Don Andersen and Chris Lochner Water Quality Monitoring Branch National Water Research Institute Joint CWRA - Government of Canada Workshop: Building Relationships for Integrated Water Resource Management Ottawa, February 6, 2004