Environment Canada's Sustainable Development Strategy 2004-2006

1.1.1: Enhance water science and understanding through new collaborative approaches with stakeholders to develop tools for integrated analysis and implementation of water quality, quantity and sustainable use issues and strategies.

EC developed the Canadian Water Quality Data Referencing Network (CWQDRN) that will provide enhanced information access by obtaining and providing web-based information on water quality monitoring activities within the provincial, territorial and federal governments. A national interactive web-based portal displaying all national (federal/provincial/territorial) water quality monitoring capacities was completed, based on metadata from the CWQDRN, and released on the GeoNet web-portal.

EC has also developed a multi-departmental strategy for a national water quality indicator program in collaboration with Statistics Canada, Health Canada and Parks Canada, including: refining the existing CCME Water Quality Index and developing new indices using physical, chemical and biological measures of water quality; designing and implementing a dedicated federal/provincial/territorial monitoring network; developing interpretive tools and environmental quality guidelines; and establishing a suite of reporting products and on-line communication products.

We are continuing to implement the 3 year Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) Action Plan on Water.

This year, 5 Environmental Quality Guidelines were developed and 19 others are still under development. The protocols used to develop Canadian Water Quality Guidelines for the protection of aquatic life and Canadian Soil Quality Guidelines for the protection of environmental and human health are still ongoing. http://www.ec.gc.ca/
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In 2004, a report entitled From Source to Tap: Guidance on the Multi-Barrier Approach to Safe Drinking Water was published in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments under the auspices of the CCME. This technical guidance document provides guidance on how to apply the concept of the multi-barrier approach to drinking water supplies from source to tap.

A Federal Freshwater Research Agenda was also developed. The six top research priorities (from the list of 18 priorities) identified by partners and stakeholders in terms of priority/urgency and willingness to participate were: Source Water Quality, Quantitative Resource Inventories, Chemical Pollutants and Nutrients Impacts of Development, Chemical Threats, Technology, Decision Tools & Monitoring.

EC has developed a two modeling tools, one to calculate ice conditions for river ice occurrence (RIVICE) and another called Water use and analysis model study to address the impacts of climate change on water in the South Saskatchewan River. The study is a collaborative effort with the University of Saskatchewan and the National Water Research Institute (NWRI).

EC has published various water surveys such as the Municipal Water Use 2001 report (and Excel database) ; the 2001 Water pricing report (and Excel database); and the Municipal Water and Wastewater Survey. Another publication that was completed this year, was on Taste and Odour in drinking water sources.

EC will continue its work in co-operation with Statistics Canada to undertake an industrial water survey and EC is contributing to MRIF (Municipal-Rural Infrastructure Fund).

Environment Canada is working with provincial partners and the private sector in flow forecasting to provide gridded hydrometeorological products for use by these agencies. EC is also establishing a framework for flash-flood prediction and is working towards a community modelling system for improved flow forecasts. Ongoing work also involves improving hydro-meteorological prediction and modelling capacity in a collaborative framework

Environment Canada has also completed the initial review of the departmental water quality data holdings (ENVIRODATs, etc.) and initiated a national exercise on data comparability for key monitoring classes (nutrients, base metals) based on consistent parameter nomenclature, analytical method reviews and variable form. This is a key step in the scientifically credible aggregation and use of distributed EC water quality data to develop a national picture of water quality.

Environment Canada released the 2004 water use report, which gives statistics on the 2001 municipal water survey. The water pricing tables and database were also published.

Along with the 2004 report, Environment Canada published sewer rates. Although the response rates on the Infrastructure Supplement of the 2001 survey were too low for developing useful estimates regarding infrastructure financing, key portions of this supplement were incorporated into the Municipal Water and Wastewater Survey done in 2005–2006 to gather 2004 data.

Environment Canada has also continued to work on assessing taste and odour in Lake Ontario, the Bay of Quinte and the St. Lawrence River. Research was begun on the question of whether lake whiting phenomena may be a predictor for taste and odour events. Three papers were published and nine were submitted for publication.

Initial work has been completed for the Canada-Ontario contaminated sediment decision-making framework for the Great Lakes and elsewhere. The Contaminated Sediment Assessment Decision-Making Framework was drafted in 2005.

EC has also completed guidelines for the protection of aquatic life with respect to the use of diisopropanolamine, permethrin, and sulfolane and has completed guidelines for the protection of agricultural water uses for diisopropanolamine and sulfolane. Phosphorus ecoregion guidelines have also been completed.

In 2005–2006, the Environment Canada National Guidelines and Standards Office’s efforts on environmental quality guidelines for aquatic ecosystems focused on the revisions to the protocol for environmental quality guidelines in water (i.e. aquatic life protocol). The bulk of work has been completed and is currently under stakeholder review.

The first national assessment of water quality in Canada in support of the Government of Canada report on key Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI) was released in December 2005. This first freshwater indicator report, Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators, was based on an assessment of monitoring data from 345 federal, provincial, and federal-provincial monitoring stations across Canada and involved cooperation across several federal departments and the provinces.

1.1.2: Refine and use climate models to inform climate change scenarios and policy discussions.

Climate models have been refined through improvements to resolution, the carbon cycle, the handling of aerosols, interactions between the atmosphere and snow and between ice and snow processes. As a result, the Canadian Regional Climate Model is more integrated and comprehensive and provides better regional scale climate outputs to inform scenario and policy discussions. The improved model will be used in the 4^th assessment on climate change by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Policy makers and the climate change impacts communities need climate information on a much smaller scale than the global model can provide. In 2005, Environment Canada and key partners delivered Canada-wide decade-to-century climate projections at 45 km to these communities.

In March 2005, Environment Canada renewed its partnership with the Ouranos Consortium (province of Quebec, Hydro Quebec, and several Quebec universities). Announced in 2002, Ouranos pools the expertise and disciplines of numerous researchers to advance the understanding of the issues and associated requirements for adaptation resulting from climate change in North America. The founding partners contribute staff and financial resources to support the organization and its work in helping maintain Canada at the cutting edge of regional climate science.

Considerable progress has been made on development of the next generation Canadian climate model. This version features extensive improvements in the representation of physical processes in the atmosphere, notably the cooling "indirect aerosol effect" now represented by including a comprehensive sulphur cycle scheme. Progress has also been made on representing the global carbon cycle, with terrestrial ecosystem, ocean ecosystem and ocean geochemistry components all coupled to the global climate model. Initial testing of this carbon climate model is under way. It will ultimately provide future climate projections driven directly by carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and will include feedbacks between the physical and biogeochemical components of the climate system. Historical simulations and future projections are now available from a version of the Canadian Global Coupled Climate Model, CGCM3, with spatial resolution of roughly 300 km in the atmosphere and 100 km in the ocean. Results from this version of the model, the so-called T63 resolution, along with an ensemble of runs with a lower-resolution T47 version, were submitted to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) data archive and are available on the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis (CCCma) website. These results total some 2.5 terabytes of model output and include daily data necessary for calculation of climate extremes and for driving various impact models. These data have been widely used in published analyses that will be reported on in the upcoming IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. Four scientists from CCCma were heavily involved in the preparation of the IPCC report, serving as lead authors and coordinating lead authors. Other staff were involved as contributing authors.

In 2004, a small core research group was established to provide a strong focus on regional climate modelling and data analysis. In March 2005, Environment Canada renewed its agreement with the Ouranos Consortium (Province of Quebec, Hydro-Québec and several Quebec universities). This agreement commits the equivalent of eight full-time employees to work in partnership with Ouranos until March 2009 on the development and analysis of regional climate modelling scenarios. Global model output is provided to drive the Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM), and output from the CRCM is disseminated via the CCCma website. In 2006–2007, the addition of more research scientists will build Environment Canada's capacity to develop higher resolution climate change scenarios, generate new knowledge and maintain regional climate products at the leading edge of the science.

1.1.3: Advance science and modeling related to particulate matter for inclusion in National Air Quality Forecasting Program.

The Canadian Hemispheric and Regional Ozone and NOx System (CHRONOS) air quality model was run once a day over North America as an experimental tool and used to support air quality forecast services to Canadians. The model outputs in 2004 were ozone, Particulate Matter (PM) _2.5 and PM₁₀. Model improvements related to emissions processing were made during the fiscal year and the model was used in an international field study and comparison of models.

PM was introduced into year-round air quality forecasts in Ontario and British Columbia in 2004. Additionally, the Pacific and Yukon region applied a neural network model to the production of air quality forecasts in British Columbia for PM₁₀ and ozone.

As these are among the first Air Quality forecast programs in the world, a performance measurement system will be developed and benchmarks for accuracy established in order to be able to measure improvements in the years ahead.

The air quality forecasting system is being updated. In July 2005, the operational air quality forecasting model CHRONOS was modified. More types of vegetation are now being used, with updated emission rates. Preliminary results from this new model indicate a general improvement in PM2.5 forecasts throughout the year with the new version of CHRONOS.

Forecasts of air quality conditions are provided daily and cover 75% of the population, giving Canadians and their institutions the information they need to make decisions. Air quality advisories and warnings, including those from INFO-SMOG in Quebec, are offered in partnership with provincial government departments and health authorities and contain messages relating to health issues and actions Canadians can take to protect their own health and that of their families.

The particulate matter component of Environment Canada’s model, A Unified Regional Air-quality Modelling System, has also been evaluated and improved with data from the International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation and PrAIRie-2005 field studies. The improved model is to be used in the next generation air quality forecast system, GEM/MACH.

1.1.4: Develop a national Research and Development approach to help address the science needs associated with high-impact weather and climate events.

Increasingly sophisticated modeling techniques are being developed that will improve the forecasting and warning of high impact weather and climate events. Specifically, a technique to provide a level of confidence in a forecast is improving Environment Canada's ability to predict these events while reducing "false alarms". At the same time this is providing information that is highly useful to risk-based decision making.

A major change to the data assimilation cycle of the Canadian Ensemble Prediction System (EPS) that significantly improves its economic value has also been implemented. The Meteorological Service of Canada is the first organization in the world to use this technique with demonstrable effects on the quality and utility of the information. The challenge going forward will be to engage stakeholders in understanding and using this new information to best advantage.

Environment Canada’s network of national labs was further integrated into the national science program, and each national lab developed a detailed five-year plan for their research and development (R&D) activities. The aviation lab was established, and the first science planning meeting was held. Environment Canada has also had developments in ensemble-based data assimilation and medium-range ensemble forecasting, along with regional ensemble forecasting over Western Canada (15-km resolution).

Canada has been active in the development of a North American Ensemble Forecast System, a joint Canada-U.S.-Mexico initiative. As a first step, there is a twice-daily exchange between Canada and the U.S, and the forecast length has increased from 10 to 16 days. Joint products are being developed for North America. Implementation of a joint product is anticipated for winter 2007.

1.1.5: Develop closer collaboration between environmental science and technology performers (universities, governments, industry) through the establishment and promotion of science and technology networks, including the federal Assistant Deputy Minister Science and Technology Integration Board, the Canadian Environmental Sciences Network, and regional and issue-specific networks.

Work on this is ongoing, and much progress was made in 2004-05. The ADM Science & Technology Integration Board is working effectively to create closer collaboration between federal science and technology (S&T) performers, and EC is viewed as a leader in the Board's operations. The Board made progress on advancing S&T integration on nine issues, including such sustainable development issues as water, invasive alien species, wildlife diseases, oceans, and climate change. The Board developed A Framework for S&T Collaboration Across Science Based Departments and Agencies, a handbook containing advice and resources to make S&T collaboration easier. It held a successful one-day workshop on "Formalizing S&T Integration across Government" and provided oversight for the organisation of the 2005 Federal S&T Forum, Moving from Collaboration to Integration.

EC also worked in 2004-05 to encourage closer collaboration on environmental S&T with university, industry, and other government partners. A workshop was held to explore the challenges of and opportunities for EC partnering for S&T. A searchable database of environmental networks in Canada was created and published on a publicly-accessible website, and Smart Partners: Innovations in EC-University Research Relationships was published to promote existing innovative partnerships. The department began to develop a national strategy for environmental S&T, which is aimed at engaging users, performers and facilitators of environmental S&T in identifying policy-relevant priorities. Work continued to foster regional and thematic networks such as the Atlantic Environmental Sciences Network and the federal research network on the Ecosystem Effects of Novel Living Organisms (EENLO). An on-line EENLO community of practice was implemented and a research strategy for EENLO was developed.

Work on this commitment is ongoing, and as mentioned previously, the network of national laboratories was further integrated into the national science program, with each national laboratory developing a detailed five-year plan for their R&D activities. The aviation lab was established, and the first science planning meeting was held. There has also been ongoing delivery of the wind energy mapping software package and data for the wind energy industry.

1.2.1: Continue to work towards the implementation of the Canadian Information System for the Environment.

Environment Canada has been furthering the CISE vision/strategy through ongoing efforts to ensure that data providers and users work together to improve the access to and use of data. Environment Canada has been employing these principles while working with other federal departments, such as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in relation to the National Land and Water Information Service (NLWIS).

Through RésEau, a Canada-wide information portal, water data from distributed sources are now accessible online, including federal government monitoring programs for water quality and quantity, as well as programs on groundwater availability, groundwater contamination, water use, and water and human health (disease outbreaks). In addition, through a partnership initiative, data has been made available from a network of 16 partner groups including provinces, non-govermental organizations (NGOs), community groups and high schools. The RésEau website was released in March 2006 and provides pre-defined maps for general users, as well as advanced search and query functions that create dynamic maps in real time for more advanced users. The monitoring networks include 1819 water quality stations and 1936 water quantity stations, and include near-real-time hydrometric mapping.

1.2.2: Develop the national data sets needed to support select Environment and Sustainable Development Indicators recommended by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE).

Environment Canada, in partnership with Statistics Canada and Health Canada, is working to complete the first annual report on the Competitiveness and Environmental Sustainability Indicators. The three indicators covered by this initiative, on air quality, water quality and greenhouse gas emissions, are part of those which were recommended by the NRTEE in 2003. This initiative flows from the Budget 2004 "to develop and report better environmental indicators on clean air, clean water and greenhouse gas emissions" and represents a significant step in fulfilling the Government of Canada's pledge in the 2004 Speech from the Throne to "work with its partners to build sustainable development systematically into decision making."

The environment and sustainable development indicators recommended by NRTEE have since become known as the Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI) initiative. With the goal of informing decision making by providing Canadians with regular and reliable information on the state of their environment and how it is linked to human activities, Environment Canada, Statistics Canada and Health Canada published the Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators 2005 report, which presents environmental indicators for air quality, freshwater quality and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission.

As part of the CESI initiative, a new information module providing background on key socio-economic variables related to environmental indicator results was published. A complementary online tool was also released to provide indicator results in a user-friendly format, including interactive maps, that allows users to directly access monitoring station data used to develop the air and water indicators. Environment Canada and Statistics Canada also collaborated on surveys for interpreting the following indicators: household and environmental, agricultural water use, and industrial water use.

Further development of the monitoring systems and refinement of the indicators supporting future CESI reporting are also progressing, in keeping with existing budget commitments.

1.2.3: Finalize and begin implementation of the Environment Canada Indicators and Reporting Strategy.

Environment Canada's Indicators and Reporting Strategy was completed in May 2004. Implementation of the Strategy is ongoing, including research and development of national reporting products (Competitiveness and Environmental Sustainability Indicators, Environmental Signals 2005), national synthesis of regional reporting (State of Canada's Watersheds), integration of indicators into performance reporting, a network of indicator practitioners (Canadian Sustainability Indicators Network) and indicators applications (e.g., modelling). Together, these efforts will improve the ability of all decision makers to assess the impact of future policy decisions and initiatives.

Implementation of many of the Strategy's goals and objectives are ongoing. These efforts include the release of the CESI 2005 report described in Commitment 1.2.2, continued national synthesis and coordination of regional reporting activities, the establishment of a national network of indicator practitioners (Canadian Sustainability Indicators Network) and the development of Web-based interactive tools that will improve information dissemination and use for decision making.

1.2.4: Develop and report on a key set of indicators of children's health and the environment in North America.

North America is on track to be the first region in the world to publish a set of indicators of children's health and the environment through the Children's Health and the Environment in North America: A First Report on Available Indicators and Measures. The goal of the report is to provide decision-makers and the public with periodic, understandable information on the status of key parameters related to children's health and the environment as a means of measuring and promoting change. The report marks an initial step toward the goal of improving reporting over time through trilateral collaboration with the United States and Mexico. The report is due to be released in the fall of 2005.

This commitment has been met, and the aforementioned report, Children's Health and the Environment in North America: a First Report on Available Indicators and Measures - Country Report, Canada, was released in January 2006. The report covers three major areas: asthma and respiratory diseases associated with outdoor and indoor air pollution; lead and other chemicals in the home and released from industrial sources; and waterborne diseases associated with drinking water and inadequate sanitation.

1.2.5: Develop national agri-environmental standards related to water quality, water conservation, pesticides, air quality and biodiversity.

Under the National Agri-Environmental Standards Initiative (NAESI), there are four thematic teams: air; biodiversity; pesticides; and water. Each thematic area is responsible for developing national agri-environmental standards (e.g., quantitative and qualitative measures of desired environmental performance) for air quality, biodiversity, pesticides, and water quality and conservation.

Year 2004-05 activity included scoping, research planning, research, and inventory development as well as coordination with other thematic areas and other Agricultural Policy Framework (APF) programs.

EC used the scoping year (2004-05) to identify and assess possible options for suitable national standards in agricultural settings for priority parameters. For example, critical evaluations of existing national and international benchmarks of environmental quality and legislation relating to agriculture were performed.

EC has also begun work on meeting our commitments to AAFC by developing tools and techniques to develop and deliver these performance standards. As a preliminary step, databases containing the necessary information to develop national standards were compiled and methodologies for the development of Achievable and Ideal Performance Standards (APS and IPS) were also developed and evaluated.

Environment Canada has already met some of its commitments to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) by developing tools and techniques that will be used to develop and deliver these performance standards. For example, activity in 2005-2006 included refining the approach/methodology for developing the standards; continuing sampling and research initiatives in select agricultural watersheds across the country; and drafting the first standards in the water (e.g. nutrients), pesticide (e.g. top-priority pesticides), and biodiversity (e.g. ecozone level) themes. Additional agri-environmental factors requiring performance standards were also identified.

Throughout the year, Environment Canada actively participated in discussions with AAFC regarding the future uses of the standards and sharing of science. In March 2006, AAFC and EC held a joint stakeholder consultation workshop with industry, provinces and environmental NGOs to provide the opportunity to exchange information about NAESI and identify some future opportunities for collaboration. Other areas of progress included the development of the NAESI Technical Series. This series is dedicated to the consolidation and dissemination of the scientific knowledge, information and tools produced through this program that Environment Canada will use as the scientific basis for the development and delivery of environmental performance standards.

1.2.6: Improve coordination of strategies and systems for observations of the Earth, with a view to moving toward a comprehensive, coordinated, and sustained Earth observation information system or systems.

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) initiative began in August 2003 in response to concerns expressed during the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, August-September 2002) and the G8 Summit (Évian, France, June 2003) on the need to better observe and manage the planet. The GEO's objective is to "move toward development of a comprehensive, coordinated, and sustained Earth observation system(s)" within the next ten years. The first step, approximately eighteen months in duration, consists of producing a plan of action for arriving at this objective.

The Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) provided leadership to coordinate Canadian participation in the various GEO meetings and, led by EC, hosted the 5^th GEO meeting held in Ottawa in November 2004. Canada's participation on the international secretariat and various international technical groups was also coordinated by the MSC. The Service co-chaired the Data Utilization Technical Group and Canada was represented on all five Technical Groups. The MSC's contribution and that of other federal departments assisted in the development of the 10-year implementation plan that was presented at the Second Earth Observation Summit (EOS II) and which is the road map for the implementation of GEOSS.

As a new area of focus, an interdepartmental committee began the development of the Federal Earth Observation Strategy, which will be refined through consultation with the provinces and the private sector to a Canadian Earth observation strategy.

1.3.1: Develop a Canada-wide health-risk based Air Quality Index that will be disseminated within a daily air quality forecasting program across the country, in partnership with the medical community, non-governmental organizations and provinces/territories.

EC and Health Canada continued to lead the multilateral Air Quality Index development process. The Index formulation was established for testing by the provinces in 2005. Once this testing is complete, it is anticipated that the AQI will become a part of Air Quality forecasts across the country in 2007. An Air Quality and Health Workshop and public opinion research has led to recommendation and acceptance of a set of health protection and environmental improvement messages for use with the index in real time reports and air quality forecasts.

Environment Canada and Health Canada have been collaborating with provincial health departments, local health agencies and NGOs to develop an Air Quality Health Index. The new index is a personal health protection tool which will, when implemented, provide Canadians with a more accurate description of the health risks associated with real-time and forecasted air quality conditions in their communities. The tool has developed to the point where it was able to undergo operational testing in British Columbia (summer 2005 and summer/fall 2006) and Nova Scotia (summer 2006). Also, Border Air Quality Strategy field study measurements were made in British Columbia and Ontario to define exposure to, as well as sources and receptors of pollutants.

The intent is to make the index ready for adoption by the provinces and municipalities in the spring of 2007.

1.3.2: Improve flood-related forecasting and provide provincial stakeholders with the water quantity science information required to better warn Canadians of floods.

Provincial agencies have jurisdiction over water and flood-related forecasting. However, the MSC can and does offer much in the way of support and expertise. During the reporting period, an MSC representative and research lead was dedicated to interaction with the Canadian and international community, supervising an ongoing R&D program for a coupled atmosphere-hydrology system based on the MSC Global Environmental Model (GEM) to predict meteorological and hydrological conditions at required time-space scales for provincial, municipal and other agencies responsible for flood warnings, protection of ground-water resources and management of water resources (including hydro power industries).

Environment Canada is working with provincial partners and the private sector in flow forecasting to provide gridded hydrometeorological products for use by these agencies and is also working towards a community modelling system for improved flow forecasts. The Department is also establishing a framework for flash-flood prediction.

1.3.3: Improve Canadian's accessibility to, and understanding of, high impact weather warnings.

Accessibility to high impact weather warnings has been improved through the introduction of a new telecommunication format and standardized region names; these improvements ensure accurate and timely broadcast of warnings on the Environment Canada weather website and by the department's partners. Service to the media has also been improved through the introduction of a more robust media website and improvements to that site, including new capacity and management tools. New support to the department's Warning Preparedness Meteorologist (WPM) Program has been implemented through the establishment of a media services National Service Office in Rimouski, Quebec. The WPM program continues to be developed nationally with regional media workshops being held across the country.

Warning oreparedness mmeteorologists (WPMs) are responsible for establishing links with the media and emergency measures organizations (EMOs). There are WPMs in each region, to facilitate interaction with the regional EMOs and the media. Their role is to establish an ongoing relationship with the EMOs and the media, to help them better understand the severe weather warnings issued by Environment Canada, and to teach them how to make effective use of these alerts.

Warning Preparedness Meteorologists respond to media information requests before, during and after severe weather events. After the fact, they assess the scope and impact of weather events by visiting the affected sites. They provided the media with information and support more than 4000 times during the year. Across the country, about a hundred EMOs received training on the impact of severe weather conditions.

Environment Canada, in partnership with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), instituted a pilot project that contributes to public safety. This project, dubbed "Project OPPortunity," allows OPP officers to report severe weather conditions in real time to the Ontario Storm Prediction Centre. Both EC and the OPP recognize the benefits of Project OPPortunity.