Nearshore Marine Ecological Monitoring Workshop

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Canadian Marine Water Quality Monitoring A
National Perspective
Rob Kent National Water Quality Monitoring
Office National Water Research Institute Environme
nt Canada
Nearshore Marine Ecological Monitoring
Workshop Dartmouth, NS February 7-9 2006
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Overview

• The issues, the why?
• Current situation, who?, what?, where?
• Challenges, barriers, opportunities and solutions
• Environment Canada, future directions

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Water Data / Information the reality check

• Foundation for knowledge on aquatic systems
• Basis for resource management decisions
• Multitude of data generators and users
• Demands exceed capacity
• Resource challenges will increase
• Partnership and innovation is key

4
Legislation and Demands

• Canadian Environmental Protection Act, Oceans
  Act, Fisheries Act
• Canada-US Memorandum of Understanding, Convention
  on Biological Diversity,
• Status and trends, ecosystem health
• Natural capital, trade/economics, public health
• Decision-making on all scales (from intl/natl
  to local)

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Ever-broadening Roster of Data Generators and
Users

• Federal depts (EC, CFIA, DFO, Parks)
• Provincial agencies
• Municipalities
• Community Groups, NGOs
• First Nations
• Universities
• Industry

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Water Quality

• Pathogens, physical, chemical, biological,
  radiological characteristics (1000s of
  parameters, measures, indicators)
• Measured, assessed and managed according to
  principal uses (Aquatic Life, Recreation,
  Drinking water source)
• Traditional phys-chem to aquatic ecosystem health
  indicators (water, biota, sediment)
• Issues rarely unique typically shared

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EC Marine Monitoring Programs

• National Shellfish
• Others
• Fraser River Estuary
• Gulf of Maine (toxics in Blue Mussels)
• Gulf of St. Lawrence (Hg in sediments)

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Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP)
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Objective of the CSSP

• To provide reasonable assurance that
• bivalve molluscan shellfish are safe for
• consumption as food by controlling the
• harvesting of all bivalve molluscs
• within the tidal waters of Canada

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CSSP - Overview

• CSSP direct result and response to a 1925 typhoid
  fever outbreak in US (1500 illnesses and 150
  deaths linked to contaminated oysters)
• Jointly implemented by CFIA, EC and DFO under MOU
• EC involvement since establishment of Dept in
  1971 current role for EC has been in place since
  1979.
• Bilateral Agreement with US on trade in raw
  molluscan shellfish since 1948 main driver
• Policies and procedures outlined in CSSP Manual
  of Operations - based on principles of the US
  National Shellfish Sanitation Program

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Interdepartmental Responsibilities
Canadian Food Inspection Agency

• Responsible for
• Fish Inspection Act and Regulations
• the handling, processing, marketing, import and
  export of shellfish,
• management of the marine biotoxin monitoring
  program
• liaison with foreign governments

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Interdepartmental Responsibilities
Fisheries and Oceans

• Responsible for fisheries management issues such
  as
• the enforcement of closure regulations
• enacting the opening and closing of shellfish
  growing areas under the authority of the
  Fisheries Act and Management of Contaminated
  Fisheries Regulations

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Interdepartmental Responsibilities

• Environment Canada
• Conduct sanitary surveys of new and existing
  shellfish growing areas in the Atlantic , Quebec
  and Pacific Yukon Regions
• Recommend sanitary classification of shellfish
  growing areas
• Promote pollution prevention/ remediation

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EC Sanitary Survey

• The major activity for EC which has three main
  components
• Identification of pollution sources through a
  shoreline survey
• Meteorological and hydrographic considerations
• Bacteriological monitoring at representative
  stations

• 15,000 stations (not all used every year)
• Approximately 20,000 samples are taken annually
• Faecal coliform indicator

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Existing Long-term Freshwater Quality Monitoring
Networks (2005)

• Current long-term, systematic WQ monitoring
  programs
• Many networks (20) designed and operated for a
  range of assessment and management purposes
  network of networks

Note Grey Jurisdictions have no Fed-Prov
Agreement
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CSSP Challenges for EC

• Length of Canadas coastline how to address all
  shellfish harvesting needs industry (wild and
  aquaculture, recreational, aboriginal)
• Uncertainty regarding significance of differences
  between US NSSP and CSSP

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Monitoring / Information Challenges

• Growing demand for better access to current,
  credible and relevant information
• Increasing obligations for watershed management,
  SW protection, etc.
• Limited nation-wide programs or synthesis by any
  jurisdiction or entity
• Integration of data from distributed sources
  while respecting regional mandates and formats
  (jurisdiction, ownership, turf protection)
• Little interaction and integration across levels
  of government and other practitioners, to date.

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Monitoring / Information Challenges cont.

• Answering simple questions with complex data
  (drinkable, fishable, swimmable, available?)
• Data Comparability? - Diverse monitoring
  objectives, parameter nomenclature, methodologies
  and units of measure
• Data usability can related data from different
  sources be integrated into common uses
• WWW is great but one-stop (click)-shop?
• Technology is NOT a barrier

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What is RésEau?A GOL Demostration Project

• Issue/Place driven web system
• Seamless access to online, current, consistent
  and credible Canadian water information and tools
• Engagement of federal, provincial, municipal
  government agencies, NGOs, community-based
  organizations and other willing partners.

RésEau is a small, but important, component of a
larger environmental information vision
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Share a
Discover a
Use
Access a
RésEau promotes and facilitates the sharing of
data from distributed sources
RésEau uses existing metadata and geospatial
standards with an open and interoperable
architecture so that data and information from
distributed sources can be integrated and
discovered
Data
Information
RésEau will enable (where desirable) direct
access to integrated data and information on
different spatial scales
Knowledge
RésEau will provide and demonstrate the use
science-based tools and methods for analysis,
reporting and decision-support
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RésEau Portal

• Finding RésEau
• Sustaining the Environment and Resources for
  Canadians (SERC) - under Freshwater Data and
  Information
• www.environmentandresources.ca/reseau
• Government of Canada site Service Canada
• www.gc.ca

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Challenges and Opportunities (from the fed
backyard)

• Cohesive and coordinated Federal strategy and
  role on water monitoring/information systems and
  networks
• National registry (RésEau) expanded to marine
  environment data publishing a requisite of
  monitoring)
• National ST leadership and consistency (methods,
  protocols promoting data comparability across
  jurisdictions and sectors)
• Sustaining capacity support for partners pilots
  as regional network centres of excellence

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Challenges and Opportunities cont. (from the fed
backyard)

• Ensuring a demand focus by understanding user
  needs beyond our own continuous learning and
  refinement
• Celebrate and advertise decision-making successes
• Collaborative partnerships are a necessity in the
  complex jurisdictional arena of water

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Environment Canada 2006

• National transformation (new results management
  framework)
• National Water program (Clean, Safe and Secure
  Water OPG)
• Water Quality and Aquatic Ecosystem Monitoring
  and Reporting program
• Status and Trends (phys, chem, biological)
• Indicators and Reporting
• Marine water quality monitoring