KELOWNA, BC – The launch of Pacific DataStream means water monitoring groups across British Columbia and the Yukon can grow the audience for their data – and there’s free help to get it online.
Pacific DataStream is a free, open access platform for sharing water data and it officially launched March 13 at the Okanagan Basin Water Board-Canadian Water Resources Association, B.C. Branch’s Environmental Flows conference at the Coast Capri Hotel in Kelowna. The platform already houses water quality data collected by 22 organizations at over 8,000 locations across the region – all easily accessible to anyone online. The data it holds is vital for tackling the challenges our waterways face – from climate change to pollution.
With the platform up and running, the DataStream team is keen to connect with water monitoring groups across BC and the Yukon to help them share the results of their vital work.
“We’re running a Data Drive until November this year,” explained Carolyn DuBois, DataStream’s Executive Director. “That means there’s additional one-on-one support available from our Data Specialists for anyone who is thinking about sharing their data – including help with formatting and uploading it.”
Groups already sharing data include community-based monitoring programs, watershed organizations, Indigenous governments and organizations, and government departments. For example, the Community Stream Monitoring (CoSMo) project, launched in 2019 by the Pacific Science Enterprise Centre — a Vancouver-based research facility run by Fisheries and Oceans Canada – uses Pacific DataStream to share collated creek monitoring data collected by local stewardship groups.
“Water monitors collect vitally important information for protecting the freshwater we all rely on,” explained DuBois. “When brought together, this data can generate powerful new insights into freshwater health. As we often say, better data means better decisions”.
Pacific DataStream is open access, allowing scientists, policymakers, and communities to easily explore and download water quality data. This includes monitoring results from rivers, lakes, and streams covering many parameters – from temperature and dissolved oxygen to levels of nutrients and metals in the water. All data on DataStream is in standardized, machine-readable formats meaning it’s easy to compare and use.
Pacific DataStream joins existing data hubs in the Mackenzie River Basin, Lake Winnipeg watershed, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Basin, and Atlantic Canada. Together, they hold over 40 million data points collected by over 260 organizations from coast to coast to coast.
Find out more and explore data at PacificDataStream.ca.
