Our ambitious goal of all waters in Canada waters in good health by 2030 unites the Our Living Waters Network towards an important future, but it’s hard to measure on its own. To measure our collective progress towards the ambitious goal, we first need to have a clear understanding of what good water health means.
Read on to learn what we mean by good water health, and how we measure it.
Four Results
These four results describe what our ambitious goal would look like if we could see it. They are conditions of well-being we all strive for when we protect and care for the fresh water near our homes.
Waters in Canada will be in good health when these results are achieved:
Canada’s water is safe for swimming and drinking and safe from contaminants.
Fish are flourishing in Canada’s waters and are healthy to eat.
The flow of water in Canada’s rivers and lakes supports life, recreation and a healthy environment.
Aquatic bugs that form the base of the food chain are thriving in Canada’s waterways.
The Shared Measurement System
That’s where the shared measurement system comes in. It’s our tangible strategy to guide the many actors in the freshwater community to work together as a connected and aligned Network.
The shared measurement system is made up of seven winning conditions that, when brought together, are likely to contribute to achieving the results. Further, there are 24 impact measures we use to measure our collective progress on achieving our winning conditions.
We believe that, through the collaborative actions of the OLW Network, and beyond, we will be able to see significant positive shifts in the winning conditions and impact measures that will, in turn, help us achieve our ambitious goal of water in Canada in good health by 2030.