This week, WWF-Canada released the latest watershed report as part of a national health assessment of the country’s 25 major freshwater ecosystems and the threats they face.
With the latest assessment, WWF-Canada has reached the 75 per cent mark of the national assessment, identifying 19 out of 25 major watersheds. For 62 per cent of those watersheds, too little data is available to determine water quality and overall health. By 2017, the assessment will be complete.
The purpose of the report is to create a comprehensive analysis of potential threats to our rivers and watersheds that is accessible and available to everyone. They are feeding it into a national collaboration of water stewardship groups who are advocating for better monitoring and data management strategies.
A key issue found in this report was that several watersheds are in bad condition in terms of health. Only 2 out of the 19 assessed were in good health. If Canadian watersheds go unchecked, the health of the water resources will be jeopardized.
WWF-Canada is focusing on four indicators of river health and seven key threats.
Health Indicators: water flow, water quality, benthic invertebrates (bugs) and fish
Threat Indicators: pollution, climate change, habitat loss and fragmentation, overuse of water, alteration of water flows and invasive species.
Find the report at: http://watershedreports.wwf.ca/#intro
