Environmental Thematic Maps and Graphics:
Human freshwater influences index, by drainage region

The title of this map is “Human freshwater influences index, by drainage region.” This map provides a visual representation of the level of impact humans have on different drainage regions in Canada, based on an aggregated ranking of anthropogenic influences. These include climate change, population density, the human landscape modification index, water crossing density (e.g., bridges and culverts), dam density, freshwater intake and nutrient emissions.

On the page, there is one large map of Canada, a legend to the upper right and a scale bar below. The map delineates drainage regions with a thin black boundary line and drainage regions are labeled with a code. Fine black dashed lines show provincial and territorial boundaries.

elow the map, drainage region codes and their corresponding names are listed for reference.

The map shows human freshwater influence by rank. The legend has five categories of rankings: 1 to 5 (red), 6 to 10 (orange), 11 to 15 (pale orange), 16 to 20 (yellow) and 21 to 25 (green).

The map shows the highest ranking drainage regions are those found in southern Ontario and Quebec and the southern Prairie provinces. The higher rankings in these areas reflect the large number of influences associated with higher population densities and landscape conversion. The lowest ranking drainage regions are found in northern Canada, where there are fewer direct influences on freshwater ecosystems; warming temperatures are the major influence in these areas.

Notes: The human freshwater influences index is an overall ranking of drainage regions based on individual rankings of selected anthropogenic variables that affect freshwater ecosystems. The overall rank is determined by ranking each variable individually from highest to lowest impact and then calculating the average of the rankings. Lower values indicate a higher degree of human influence.

Sources:
Statistics Canada, Environment and Energy Statistics Division, 2021, special tabulation based on Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Canadian Gridded Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies (CANGRD), https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/3d4b68a5-13bc-48bb-ad10-801128aa6604#wb-auto-6 (accessed May 15, 2020);
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Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), 2017, Topographic Data of Canada - CanVec Series, https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/8ba2aa2a-7bb9-4448-b4d7-f164409fe056 (accessed December 21, 2020);
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ECCC, 2015, National Pollutant Release Inventory, Pollution Data and Reports, www.ec.gc.ca/inrp-npri/default.asp?lang=En&n=B85A1846-1 (accessed August 24, 2016);
Statistics Canada, 2020, Table 38-10-0099-01 Wastewater volumes processed by municipal sewage systems (x 1,000,000), https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3810009901 (accessed December 16, 2020);
Canadian Dam Association, 2019, Inventory of Large Dams in Canada 2019, https://cda.ca/publications/dams-in-canada-2019 (accessed October 29, 2020).