Presentation at the Genomes to Biomes 2014 joint meeting of the Canadian Society of Ecology and Evolution, Canadian Society of Zoology, and the Limnology Society of Canada.

1. ©GregStott/WWF-Canada
Reporting the first
year of results
towards a Canada-
wide evaluation of
freshwater health by
2017
Genomes to/aux Biomes, 2014
1
James Snider, Sophie Taddeo,
Anna Labetski & Steven Price
May 28, 2014

2. What is it all adding up to?
2

3. 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.
3

4. 4
All major freshwater
systems assessed by
by 2017
A major milestone….

5. 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

7. Complimenting other assessments
7

8. ©GarthLENZ/WWF-Canada
WWF-Canada
Freshwater Health
Assessment
Framework

9. 9

10. 10
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)

11. 11
3. Long-term trends in annual flows
Sub-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:

12. 12
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:

13. 13Concentration (mg/L)
NumberofObservations
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)

14. 14
Example Results of Water Quality Metric:

15. 15
Water quality results
are available by
parameter, and data
source

16. HBI = Σ(xi*ti)/(n), where
xi = number of individuals within a family
ti = tolerance value of a family
n = 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).

17. Year
MedianNumberofNativeFishSpecies
Linear Regression*
* All statistics used in
FHA are non-parametric.
We use the analogous
non-parametric test
10
6
2
1995 2000 2005 2010
Fish Metric
Indicator: 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

18. 18
Very Good
Good
Very Good
Very Good
Your water
body is:
GOOD
Very poor
Poor
Fair
Good
Very good
WWF Framework: Metrics to Scores

19. 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

20. Understanding scale
20
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”

21. 21http://wwf.ca/waterhealth

22. Upcoming results:
June, 2014 – Five rivers
22
• Ottawa
• North Saskatchewan
• Mackenzie
• Rivers of the Great
Slave
• Saint-Maurice

23. Overall Scores, sub-basin scale
2
16
7
3
0
21
Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor Data
Deficient

24. 0
8
24
12
1
4
Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor Data
Deficient
Hydrology Scores, Sub-basin scale
382 short-term monitoring sites
86 long-term monitoring sites
Number of sub-basins in
each scoring category:

25. 7
24
2
0 0
16
Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor Data
Deficient
Water Quality Scores, Sub-basin scale
985 Water Quality Sites
Number of sub-basins in
each scoring category:

26. 11
3
4
2
1
28
Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor Data
Deficient
Benthic Scores, Sub-basin scale
Number of sub-basins in
each scoring category:
809 Benthic Sites

27. 28
0 0
21
Good Fair Poor Data Deficient
Fish Scores, Sub-basin scale
Number of sub-basins in
each scoring category:
5,382 Fish Sites

28. 28
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.

29. 29
Fish Metric Improvements (cont.)
4. Integrate a measure of sampling effort into analysis, either
via species rarefaction models, or catch-per-unit-effort
approaches.

30. 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.
30

31. 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.
31

32. wwf.ca
Thank you
32
James Snider
jsnider@wwfcanada.org
@snider_james