Historical water quality data measured on a continuous basis at over 23 locations across Canada is included in this dataset. Most locations include hourly temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, specific conductance and turbidity. Data are collected by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and in partnership with other federal departments and provinces and territories to enable the detection of short-term water quality events, and to determine trends in water quality, especially at transboundary sites (or Federal waters) in support of Federal legislation and international agreements, or to report on the status of Government of Canada priority aquatic ecosystems.

Pesticides surveillance data in freshwater from federal and federal-provincial sites at various locations throughout Canada are included in this dataset. Measurements mostly include pesticides but could include physical-chemical parameters such as temperature, pH, alkalinity, major ions, nutrients and metals. The number of sites varies from year-to-year, and sampling frequencies vary from one location to another, as surveillance activities are adjusted according to evolving environmental pressures and governmental programs. Data are collected in order to determine baseline water quality status, determine event-based pulse concentrations, evaluate the effectiveness of management actions, verify compliance with water quality objectives, and/or identify emerging issues. Additional information on the surveillance project allows suitable data interpretation and can be obtained by contacting the data authority. More pesticides data are available as part of the National Long-term Water Quality Monitoring Data. http://www.ec.gc.ca/eaudouce-freshwater/default.asp?lang=En&n=50947E1B-1

Long-term freshwater quality monitoring data for over 13 sites in the Columbia River Basin for the past 15 years or longer for nutrients, metals, major ions, and other physical-chemical variables are included in this dataset. Monitoring is conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and under the Canada-British Columbia Water Quality Monitoring Agreement to assess water quality status and long-term trends, detect emerging issues, establish water quality guidelines and track the effectiveness of remedial measures and regulatory decisions. Supplemental Information. http://www.ec.gc.ca/eaudouce-freshwater/default.asp?lang=En&n=50947E1B-1

Long-term freshwater quality monitoring data for six sites in the Assiniboine - Red River Basin for the past 15 years or longer for nutrients, metals, major ions, and other physical-chemical variables are included in this dataset. Monitoring is conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to assess water quality status and long-term trends, detect emerging issues, establish water quality guidelines and track the effectiveness of remedial measures and regulatory decisions. The information informs the Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiative and supports activities of the Prairie Provinces Water Board (PPWB). Supplemental Information. http://www.ec.gc.ca/eaudouce-freshwater/default.asp?lang=En&n=50947E1B-1

Long-term freshwater quality monitoring data for over 40 sites in the St. Lawrence River basin for the past 15 years or longer for nutrients, metals, major ions, and other physical-chemical variables are included in this dataset. Monitoring is conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) as well as through the Canada-Quebec Water Quality Monitoring Agreement and the St. Lawrence Action Plan to assess water quality status and long-term trends, detect emerging issues, establish water quality guidelines and track the effectiveness of remedial measures and regulatory decisions. Data for sites operated by the province are available from Quebec's Sustainable Development, Environment and the Fight against Climate Change Ministry. Supplemental Information http://www.ec.gc.ca/eaudouce-freshwater/default.asp?lan g=En&n=50947E1B-1

Water quality is a globally accepted and widely used measure for assessing and monitoring the condition of freshwater ecosystems. It has a pivotal affect on the integrity of aquatic ecosystems. The physical and chemical characteristics of water have a strong influence on aquatic biota and freshwater ecosystem processes. As a result, changes in water quality may provide an early warning of environmental stress to aquatic ecosystems. The water quality index (WQI) is a tool that was developed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) to summarize complex water chemistry data to a single index in order to simplify and standardize water quality assessment and reporting across the country. Water samples are taken twice a year at the same location from 18 lakes during June and August.

Long-term freshwater quality monitoring data for over 10 sites in the Arctic Coast - Islands Basin for the past 15 years or longer for nutrients, metals, major ions, and other physical-chemical variables are included in this dataset. Monitoring is conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and in collaboration with Parks Canada to assess water quality status and long-term trends, detect emerging issues, establish water quality guidelines and track the effectiveness of remedial measures and regulatory decisions. Supplemental Information. http://www.ec.gc.ca/eaudouce-freshwater/default.asp?lang=En&n=50947E1B-1

Long-term freshwater quality monitoring data for over 14 sites in the Fraser River Basin for the past 15 years or longer for nutrients, metals, major ions, and other physical-chemical variables are included in this dataset. Monitoring is conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and under the Canada-British Columbia Water Quality Monitoring Agreement to assess water quality status and long-term trends, detect emerging issues, establish water quality guidelines and track the effectiveness of remedial measures and regulatory decisions. Supplemental Information. http://www.ec.gc.ca/eaudouce-freshwater/default.asp?lang=En&n=50947E1B-1

Long-term freshwater quality monitoring data for two sites in the Missouri River Basin for the past 15 years or longer for nutrients, metals, major ions, and other physical-chemical variables are included in this dataset. Monitoring is conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to assess water quality status and long-term trends, detect emerging issues, establish water quality guidelines and track the effectiveness of remedial measures and regulatory decisions. Supplemental Information http://www.ec.gc.ca/eaudouce-freshwater/default.asp?lang=En&n=50947E1B-1

Surface freshwater quality monitoring in the Fraser River Basin is carried out under the Canada-British Columbia Water Quality Monitoring Agreement. Monitoring is conducted to assess water quality status and long-term trends, detect emerging issues, establish water quality guidelines and track the effectiveness of remedial measures and regulatory decisions.

This dataset is a simplified version of water quality measurements taken in Tuktut Nogait National Park. It is a collection of measurements which make up two water quality indexes: Nutrients and Major Ions (NMI) Index and Metals Index. The measurements are taken along the Hornaday River annually in early-July. The chemical composition of water influences the biological productivity and species composition of rivers. Changes in the water quality in the rivers and creeks in the Western Arctic can act as early indicators of ecosystem change. The presence of contaminants, such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), heavy metals, and radionuclides are a concern because they can have negative effects on Arctic ecosystems and human health. Furthermore, a changing climate in the Arctic can influence the nutrient levels in the streams and rivers as more nutrients will be released from thawing permafrost. As the expected effects of climate change on Arctic ecosystems are still unknown, continuous monitoring is paramount.

A water quality monitoring station on the Kootenay River at Kootenay Crossing (and Kicking Horse River station near Field) are operated by Environment Canada in partnership with Parks Canada. The Canadian Council of Minister’s metric of Water Quality Index (WQI) is a unitless value between 0 and 100. Once the WQI value has been calculated, water quality is classified to Excellent, Good, Fair, Marginal, Poor. For each 3-year period an indicator of change from one period to the subsequent period is assessed.

Long-term freshwater quality monitoring data for over eight sites in the Ottawa River basin for the past 15 years or longer for nutrients, metals, major ions, and other physical-chemical variables are included in this dataset. Monitoring is conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) as well as through the Canada-Quebec Water Quality Monitoring Agreement and the St. Lawrence Action Plan to assess water quality status and long-term trends, detect emerging issues, establish water quality guidelines and track the effectiveness of remedial measures and regulatory decisions. Data for sites operated by the province are available from Quebec's Sustainable Development, Environment and the Fight against Climate Change Ministry. http://www.ec.gc.ca/eaudouce-freshwater/default.asp?lang=En&n=50947E1B-1

In order to assess long-term changes in streams Thousand Islands NP monitors their water quality yearly in July. Samples are analyzed for multiple parameters including: total phosphorus, ammonium, nitrate, turbidity, and specific conductivity.

This program, led by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), is part of a larger national program serving to describe spatial and temporal patterns in water quality on many major rivers in Canada. In Waterton, physical and chemical variables are measured at water quality sites located on the two major rivers that originate in or flow through the park, the Waterton River and the Belly River. These sites are in the headwaters of major rivers that provide ecosystem services for many downstream users (e.g. drinking water) and are upstream of major point- and non-point source pollution. National park sites represent “reference conditions” for comparison to downstream sites. These sites represent a large upstream catchment that can theoretically capture any potential impacts to water quality.

The Nova Scotia Automated Surface Water Quality Monitoring Network was established in 2002 to assess water quality in surface waters across the province at five stations. In 2019 the station list was modified to reduce overlap with Environment and Climate Change Canada surface water quality monitoring stations. The results are used to help manage water resources, determine baseline water quality in lakes and watercourses throughout the province, evaluate the impact of human activities on surface water, and assess long term trends in water quality. The following weblink connects to a Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change web map that includes the five monitoring station locations within the province and an alternative method for downloading the same datasets: http://nse.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=7ded7a30bef44f848e8a4fc8672c89bd

This data set includes information on sampling locations, water chemistry and chlorophyll collected at 18 locations in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River and 4 locations in Lake Simcoe.

The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) has designed a Water Quality Index (WQI) to translate complex water quality data into an overall integrated score from 0-100. This score is based on the number of measured variables, which have observations exceeding water quality thresholds (i.e., scope); the number of these exceedances in the dataset (i.e., frequency); and the magnitude by which the observations exceed the guidelines (i.e., amplitude). These water quality parameters are crucial indicators of the physical, chemical or biological conditions in aquatic systems and processes. The purpose of the water quality monitoring program at Kouchibouguac National Park is to use this index to calculate a score and evaluate the status of our freshwater ecosystems. The methods for this measure involve a once-a-month sampling, from May to November, of permanent stations in five tributaries: Kouchibouguacis River, Tweedie Brook, Black River, Rankin Brook, and Portage River. At each station, a number of water quality parameters are measured in situ as well as the collection of samples that are sent for laboratory analysis of chemical content three times a year in the Spring, Summer, and Fall to capture seasonal variation. In addition, ten key variables (i.e., total phosphorus, nitrate, dissolved oxygen, pH, total alkalinity, aluminium, calcium, total suspended solids, turbidity, total organic carbon) were selected to include in the WQI calculation in order to reflect the regional situation and account for possible natural or anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., eutrophication or oxygen deficits, acidification, land-use changes) related to deforestation, agriculture, and urbanization activities.

Long-term freshwater quality monitoring data for two sites in the Winnipeg River basin for the past 15 years or longer for nutrients, metals, major ions, and other physical-chemical variables are included in this dataset. Monitoring is conducted by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) as well as through the Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiative to assess water quality status and long-term trends, detect emerging issues, establish water quality guidelines and track the effectiveness of remedial measures and regulatory decisions. Supplemental Information http://www.ec.gc.ca/eaudouce-freshwater/default.asp?lang=En&n=50947E1B-1

Provides stream water quality monitoring data for a number of parameters, including total and dissolved nutrients, metals, and chloride. The Provincial (Stream) Water Quality Monitoring Network (PWQMN) measures water quality in rivers and streams across Ontario. This dataset provides stream water quality monitoring data for a number of parameters, including total and dissolved nutrients, metals, and chloride. Spatial information for stream monitoring locations across Ontario are also available. Keywords: Streamwater, Nutrients, Fresh Water Stream Water Quality Map