WC148 MayJune 2026 - Magazine - Page 37
She added once implemented the CWA’s hope is that
the strategy will ensure Canadians can “find and access
freshwater data that strengthens freshwater decision making and knowledge generation going forward.”
Young went into further detail on the surfeit of data
now available for collection and analysis along with the
challenges inherent in sharing and distributing that data.
“Freshwater data is organized, shared, stored and used
in many different ways right across governments, sectors
and different institutions. Data is at the foundation of
informed decision making but it also needs to be readily
available and accessible,” Young said.
A big challenge is the fragmentation of water data
across different sectors and jurisdictions he said, “and in
many ways we don’t have that single, authoritative go-to
source.”
“Data may not be centrally catalogued or standardized…and sometimes there’s a lack of availability where
we don’t think it’s available, but it is there, it’s just not
accessible or inter-operable.”
It matters, Young said, because implementation of a
national strategy means to strengthen several areas.
“Development of a strategy will support better real-time decision making such as flood responses, national
reporting such as trends changing over time and better
eco-system health management.”
“Multiple sources of data could be used to determine if
a lake needs protection, to manage fisheries or recreation
(as well as) better management of cumulative effects related to multiple users of a watershed which enables much
more sustainable decision making.”
More data allows for better modelling, he added.
“We hear from modellers all the time (that) they have
a need for more and more different types of datasets to
build better models,” he said.
He also pointed to a rise in water-related events as an
additional challenge both now and in future.
“We expect droughts based on multiple sources of
data such as stream flows, snowpack melt, precipitation,
groundwater licensing. All those things factor in and yet
all these different datasets are in different parts and it’s
difficult to bring together,” Young said.
The National Freshwater Strategy as proposed is
intended to modernize and coordinate freshwater data
collection, governance and use, Young said.
“It’s a collaborative effort amongst everyone.
Provinces, territories, Indigenous peoples, all the
federal departments, academia, and non-governmental
organizations.”
“We’re really understanding the Canadian context (as
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
well), with respect to jurisdictions and building upon
existing strengths. We’re not about to tear down any
existing structures or bodies that are already in place and
working,” he said.
“We’re looking at building support for data-informed
governance as a whole,” he said.
Borque-Viens took a broader perspective on freshwater
data governance in the context of how Canada broadly
governs scientific data as a strategic asset.
“Data is not being collected once and being used
for a single purpose, increasingly its value comes from
reuse across disciplines, jurisdictions, over time and
increasingly re-use by machines as well as by people,’
Borque-Viens said.
Data governance is another essential element in proper
handling of freshwater information, he added.
“Effective data governance is what allows Canada to
maximize benefits to its research and innovation ecosystem while still protecting sensitive information and
respecting legal, ethical and Indigenous data considerations,” Borque-Viens said.
“Freshwater data is mission critical, high value, and
deeply interconnected across institutions and jurisdictions, so the issue is sharing,” he said.
Canada must adopt a national scientific data governance framework, he said, “to protect and effectively
manage data arising from publicly funded scientific activities and promote its reuse as a cornerstone of discovery,
innovation and economic prosperity.”
Kelly said there are parallels between the challenges
faced by water data management and similar efforts in the
health sector, such as the multiple health systems across
Canada which all need to share information amongst
themselves while providing an overview of health data as
a whole.
“All of the complexities of the health system manifest
themselves in the data and how we can manage it,”
Kelly said.
Fragmentation and data silos in the health space lead
to loss of productivity, increased costs which ultimately
results in poorer outcomes and quality of care.
Data stewardship means making quality data accessible
and useful to those who need it across a variety of users,
she said, as well as safeguarding data against misuse and
applying ethical standards while being transparent as to
how data is being used.
“Key to the work is our engagement. We need to build
up public trust and engagement to make sure however
we’re using the data as a society matches and reflects public values, needs and expectations,” Kelly said.
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