Reference resources

Description: This product contains gridded datasets of annual and 30-year average estimates of water yield. Tracking water yield—an estimate of renewable water supply derived from National Water Data Archive (HYDAT) streamflow data—provides information to help understand water resources available for human use and ecosystem needs. Annual datasets are available for the years 1971 to 2021 and cover southern Canada. Thirty-year averages are available for 1971-2000, 1981-2010, and 1991-2020. They cover the terrestrial and freshwater extent of Canada, except for the Arctic Archipelago.

Description: This product contains specifications intended for users of the water yield geospatial files. This document provides important technical information for users and links to methodology.

Description: Quantifying how Canada's water yield has changed over time is an important component of the water accounts maintained by Statistics Canada. This study evaluates the movement in the series of annual water yield estimates for Southern Canada from 1971 to 2004. We estimated the movement in the series using a trend-cycle approach and found that water yield for southern Canada has generally decreased over the period of observation.

Description:

In 2008, Statistics Canada conducted the first Agricultural Water Use Survey. This pilot survey is part of the Canadian Environment Sustainability Indicators initiative and collects information on volumes of water used for irrigation, irrigated areas, irrigation practices and the quality of water used for agricultural purposes. This technical paper describes the methodology used for the pilot survey and includes recommendations for future cycles of the survey. The validation process seems to indicate that the method used to estimate the volumes of water used and the irrigated areas calculated underestimates the results. The report gives recommendations to minimize this bias in the next iterations of the survey. First, it is recommended to simplify the level of information collected by the survey; to review the sampling methodology; and to examine other means of collecting information on volumes of water used for irrigation. This pilot version of the survey remains a reliable source for consistent data on agricultural water use.

Description: In this paper, we present the methodology developed by Statistics Canada to calculate the average annual water yield for Canada. Water yield, for the purposes of this paper, is defined as the amount of freshwater derived from unregulated flow (m³ s^-1) measurements for a given geographic area over a defined period of time. The methodology is applied to the 1971 to 2000 time period.

This research was conducted to fill data gaps in Statistics Canada's water statistics program. These gaps exist because estimates of freshwater flow for Canada have not been calculated regularly and have been produced using a variety of methods that do not necessarily generate comparable results. The methodology developed in this study produced results that are coherent through space and time. These results will be used in the future to investigate changes in water yield on a more disaggregated basis.

To achieve the water yield estimate a database of natural streamflow observations from 1971 to 2000 was compiled. The streamflow values were then converted to a runoff depth and interpolated using ordinary kriging to produce spatial estimates of runoff. The spatial estimates were then scaled to create a National estimate of water yield as a thirty-year average. The methodology and results were then validated using a stability analysis and several techniques involving uncertainty. The result of the methodology indicates that the thirty-year average water yield for Canada is 3435 km³.

Description:

The objective of the present study is to understand and explain how the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) Water Quality Index (WQI) behaves, and at the same time determine its limitations to make a better use of it in the future. In order to do so, four data sets were made available to us thanks to participation of the following provinces: Newfoundland, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.

Description:

This activity focuses on how water is used for irrigation, the benefits and risks associated with irrigation and the ways farmers manage their water use.

Description: This survey is being conducted to provide Canadians with national and regional indicators related to the use of water in industry.

Description: The Survey of Drinking Water Plants is conducted to provide Canadians with national and regional information related to the production of drinking water.

Description: Quantifying how Canada's water yield has changed over time is an important component of the water accounts maintained by Statistics Canada. This study evaluates the movement in the series of annual water yield estimates for Southern Canada from 1971 to 2004. We estimated the movement in the series using a trend-cycle approach and found that water yield for southern Canada has generally decreased over the period of observation.

Description:

In 2008, Statistics Canada conducted the first Agricultural Water Use Survey. This pilot survey is part of the Canadian Environment Sustainability Indicators initiative and collects information on volumes of water used for irrigation, irrigated areas, irrigation practices and the quality of water used for agricultural purposes. This technical paper describes the methodology used for the pilot survey and includes recommendations for future cycles of the survey. The validation process seems to indicate that the method used to estimate the volumes of water used and the irrigated areas calculated underestimates the results. The report gives recommendations to minimize this bias in the next iterations of the survey. First, it is recommended to simplify the level of information collected by the survey; to review the sampling methodology; and to examine other means of collecting information on volumes of water used for irrigation. This pilot version of the survey remains a reliable source for consistent data on agricultural water use.

Description: In this paper, we present the methodology developed by Statistics Canada to calculate the average annual water yield for Canada. Water yield, for the purposes of this paper, is defined as the amount of freshwater derived from unregulated flow (m³ s^-1) measurements for a given geographic area over a defined period of time. The methodology is applied to the 1971 to 2000 time period.

This research was conducted to fill data gaps in Statistics Canada's water statistics program. These gaps exist because estimates of freshwater flow for Canada have not been calculated regularly and have been produced using a variety of methods that do not necessarily generate comparable results. The methodology developed in this study produced results that are coherent through space and time. These results will be used in the future to investigate changes in water yield on a more disaggregated basis.

To achieve the water yield estimate a database of natural streamflow observations from 1971 to 2000 was compiled. The streamflow values were then converted to a runoff depth and interpolated using ordinary kriging to produce spatial estimates of runoff. The spatial estimates were then scaled to create a National estimate of water yield as a thirty-year average. The methodology and results were then validated using a stability analysis and several techniques involving uncertainty. The result of the methodology indicates that the thirty-year average water yield for Canada is 3435 km³.

Description:

The objective of the present study is to understand and explain how the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) Water Quality Index (WQI) behaves, and at the same time determine its limitations to make a better use of it in the future. In order to do so, four data sets were made available to us thanks to participation of the following provinces: Newfoundland, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.

Description:

This activity focuses on how water is used for irrigation, the benefits and risks associated with irrigation and the ways farmers manage their water use.

Description: This survey is being conducted to provide Canadians with national and regional indicators related to the use of water in industry.

Description: The Survey of Drinking Water Plants is conducted to provide Canadians with national and regional information related to the production of drinking water.

Description: This product contains gridded datasets of annual and 30-year average estimates of water yield. Tracking water yield—an estimate of renewable water supply derived from National Water Data Archive (HYDAT) streamflow data—provides information to help understand water resources available for human use and ecosystem needs. Annual datasets are available for the years 1971 to 2021 and cover southern Canada. Thirty-year averages are available for 1971-2000, 1981-2010, and 1991-2020. They cover the terrestrial and freshwater extent of Canada, except for the Arctic Archipelago.

Description: This product contains specifications intended for users of the water yield geospatial files. This document provides important technical information for users and links to methodology.