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Reporting the first year of results towards a Canada-wide evaluation of freshwater health by 2017

Genomes to/aux Biomes, 2014

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James Snider, Sophie Taddeo, Anna Labetski & Steven Price

May 28, 2014

What is it all adding up to?

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Freshwater Health Assessment (FHA): What is it?

• A set of four key metrics integrated through an expert reviewed analytical framework

• Provide a high level score for freshwater ecosystem health within a watershed context.

• Establish a consistent approach across the country

• Pooling available data to build a basis for evidence-based water policy evaluation and advocacy.

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All major freshwater systems assessed by

by 2017

A major milestone….

Index of Habitat Integrity (IHI)

South African Scoring System (SASS)(Macro-Invertebrate Community Index)

Fish Assemblage Integrity Index (FAII)

Riparian Vegetation Index (RVI)

Geomorphological Index

Water Quality (Chemical) Water Quality (Diatoms)

Concept: Looking to leaders

Complimenting other assessments

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WWF-Canada Freshwater Health Assessment Framework

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Hydrology Metric -- Composite metric comprised of 5 indicators:

1. Trends in median monthly flow, long-term (onset of monitoring – present)

2. Trends in median monthly flow, short-term (last available monitoring – present)

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3. Long-term trends in annual flowsSub-basin score reported as average annual percentage change in MAF, calculated across sites with significant trend, and weighted across sites by long-term MAD.

Hydrology Metric -- Composite metric comprised of 5 indicators:

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Hydrology Metric

Pre- vs. Post-Dam / Historical vs. Recent analysis:

4. Variance in monthly flow

5. Percentage Change in Median Monthly Flow

-- Composite metric comprised of 5 indicators:

13Concentration (mg/L)

Num

ber o

f Obs

erva

tions

Provincial Guideline (e.g. Nitrate = 2.93 mg/L)

75th Percentile 90th Percentile

Water Quality

Indicator: Proportion of water quality measurements that exceed three chosen thresholds: (1) Provincial or Federal water quality guidelines; (2) 90th percentile of historical distribution; and (3) 75th percentile of historical distribution

Various data sources, including Environment Canada’s EnviroDat, and provincial agencies (e.g. Ontario’s Provincial Water Quality Monitoring Network)

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Example Results of Water Quality Metric:

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Water quality results are available by parameter, and data source

HBI = Σ(xi*ti)/(n), where

xi = number of individuals within a familyti = tolerance value of a familyn = total number of organisms in the sample

Dragonfly Nymph CaddisflySnailsSideswimmer

Hilsenhoff Biotic Index

A measure of benthic invertebrate community composition, based on relative sensitivity of taxa (i.e. species, genus or family) to disturbance (e.g. Organic pollutants).

Year

Med

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ber o

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ish

Spec

ies

Linear Regression*

* All statistics used in FHA are non-parametric. We use the analogous non-parametric test

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1995 2000 2005 2010

Fish MetricIndicator: Presence/Absence of a decline in native fish species richness over time (i.e. Loss of native fish diversity)

Data Sources: Provincial databases, including BC Historical Fish Observances, Alberta’s Fish & Wildlife Information System, Ontario’s Flowing Waters Information System

Analysis of both median and total annual fish species richness

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Very Good

Good

Very Good

Very Good

Your water body is: GOOD

Very poor

Poor

Fair

Good

Very good

WWF Framework: Metrics to Scores

Health of your water body overall is:

GOOD Very Poor

Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

WWF Framework: Metrics to Scores

Hydrology

Fish

Invertebrates

Water Quality

Very Poor

Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

=

=

=

=

=

Data sufficiency

Very Poor

Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

Very Poor

Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

Very Poor

Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

Understanding scale

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Spatial criteria for data sufficiency are determined based on Water Survey of Canada framework:

For basins, criteria are related to ‘sub-drainage areas“

For sub-basins, criteria are related to “sub-sub-drainage areas”

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Upcoming results:June, 2014 – Five rivers

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• Ottawa

• North Saskatchewan

• Mackenzie

• Rivers of the Great Slave

• Saint-Maurice

Overall Scores, sub-basin scale

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Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor DataDeficient

Hydrology Scores, Sub-basin scale

382 short-term monitoring sites86 long-term monitoring sites

Number of sub-basins in each scoring category:

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Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor DataDeficient

Water Quality Scores, Sub-basin scale

985 Water Quality Sites

Number of sub-basins in each scoring category:

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Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor DataDeficient

Benthic Scores, Sub-basin scale

Number of sub-basins in each scoring category:

809 Benthic Sites

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0 0

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Good Fair Poor Data Deficient

Fish Scores, Sub-basin scale

Number of sub-basins in each scoring category:

5,382 Fish Sites

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Working to improve the fish metric

1. Apply abundance-based regional Indices of Biological Integrity, where data and models of expected distribution and abundance exists.

2. Where long-term abundance data is available (but not a regional IBI model), apply WWF’s Living Planet Index approach.

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Fish Metric Improvements (cont.)

4. Integrate a measure of sampling effort into analysis, either via species rarefaction models, or catch-per-unit-effort approaches.

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Conclusions to Date

• Severe data limitations are apparent in many parts of the country.

• Lack of standardized approach for reporting, especially water quality – including state and units of parameters.

• Challenge accessing data outside of government.

• Huge potential in monitoring from industry (EIA), utilities (e.g. BC Hydro and Hydro Quebec).

• Improvements are needed in fish metric to gain better discriminatory power.

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Next steps

• Freshwater Health Assessment for Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Watershed – to be completed by June 2015

• Threats Assessment – cumulative effects approach to provide additional insight on causality & enhance policy & planning leverage

• Hiring: Two, 1-year contract positions, starting Summer and Fall 2014.

wwf.ca

Thank you

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James Sniderjsnider@wwfcanada.org

@snider_james