Empowering Communities in Monitoring for Watershed Security and Adaptation in River Basins
Living Lakes Canada
(
Non-governmental organization (NGO)
)
#SDGAction50101
Description
The Columbia Basin Water Monitoring Framework (CBWMF) is a coordinated network of 118 monitoring site across Southeast BC that supports the tracking of the effects of climate change and other impacts on water supply for communities and ecosystems. The data collected is made available to inform strategies for adaptive watershed management and freshwater stewardship in the Columbia Basin.
This program's data is publicly available on the Columbia Basin Water Hub.
OVERVIEW
Climate change is a critical issue impacting water management in the Columbia River Basin. Climate impacts have already had devastating consequences on this region, including home losses, damaged infrastructure, drought, intensifying water restrictions, and low water levels in streams, lakes, wetlands and aquifers.
Existing water monitoring networks are insufficient to track and understand climate impacts on water. The Columbia Basin Water Monitoring Framework is a unified monitoring framework that will help inform local water budgeting needs and climate adaptation options for communities.
Using an innovative methodology developed by senior hydrologists and climate change and ecosystem experts, Living Lakes Canada piloted this project in 2022 within three areas in the Canadian Columbia Basin. We expanded the project into two new areas in 2023, for a total of five operational areas covering 25,000 square kilometres. The long term goal is to scale and expand this model across the entire Basin region and share the learnings as a template for other regions as well.
In a special issue of the peer-reviewed Water International journal focused on water governance, CBWMF was selected as a featured case study: see the Editors’ Introduction to the Special Issue: Water International, Volume 49, Issue 3-4 (2024). The article details the CBWMF’s pioneering approach, which emphasizes stakeholders engagement and prioritizes monitoring based on scientific and community criteria, as a localized solution for water management challenges. Read the article: Water security through community-directed monitoring in the Canadian Columbia Basin: democratizing watershed data.
BACKGROUND
The critical issues of water resource management amid climate change impacts in the Upper Columbia Basin have been identified in a series of reports from the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC) dating back to 2006. These reports highlighted the requirement to increase monitoring and research to more appropriately understand climate impacts, while developing a collective, large-scale effort to prepare communities and industry for change.
- Preliminary Analysis of Climate Variability and Change in the Canadian Columbia River Basin: Focus on Water Resources (PCIC, 2006)
- Climate Extremes in the Canadian Columbia Basin: A Preliminary Assessment (PCIC, 2013)
- Water Monitoring and Climate in the Upper Columbia Basin, Summary of Current Status and Opportunities (CBT, 2017)
Living Lakes Canada began implementing report recommendations in 2017 by holding a conference that brought together 120 water data experts to discuss what a water monitoring framework and an accompanying open source water data hub would look like for the Canadian Columbia Basin. Living Lakes Canada then led the collaborative multi-year development process, involving volunteer and paid steering committee members, various agencies, industry, academia, First Nations and community organizations, and in 2021, launched the Columbia Basin Water Hub, which serves as a central platform to access water data in the region.
The groundwork for a monitoring framework was established when Living Lakes Canada convened a meeting of senior hydrologists from government, consulting agencies, and academia, who reached consensus that a water balance approach was needed to fill the water data gaps in the Columbia Basin. Guided by the meeting outcomes, Living Lakes Canada contracted local experts to develop the Priority Monitoring Matrix methodology in 2021, outlined in the Terms of Reference document:
An expanded water monitoring network designed to provide the data required to measure a region’s water balance is a strong foundation for responding to key environmental water concerns associated with the climate crisis. The data collected through this project can be used by community members, researchers, the private sector, all levels of government and decision makers. This comprehensive, paradigm-shifting approach to watershed management will support local, regional and national efforts to increase climate adaptation options via necessary future water budgets — and support the longer term viability of natural ecosystems and ecosystem services. This nexus of social science, water science and Indigenous knowledge to enhance watershed security and adaptation can serve as a template for other river basins. Living Lakes Canada is an award-winning NGO which has the mission to facilitate collaboration in science, education, monitoring, restoration and policy development for the long-term protection of Canada's lakes, rivers, wetlands and watersheds. Our organization delivers a range of regional, provincial and federal water-related programs in partnership with academia, NGOs, and water stewardship and Indigenous groups in Canada. We are an active member of Living Lakes International, a global network of organizations that share the same mission: to enhance, protect, restore and rehabilitate freshwater areas around the globe.
Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, Indigenous governments and knowledge holders, municipal and regional governments, industry, tourism and recreation operators, community drinking water systems, private sector consultants, provincial government staff, academic researchers, federal government
Visit the project page: https://livinglakescanada.ca/cbwmf
SDGS & Targets
Goal 6
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
6.1
By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
6.1.1
Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services
6.2
By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
6.2.1
Proportion of population using (a) safely managed sanitation services and (b) a hand-washing facility with soap and water
6.3
By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally
6.3.1
Proportion of domestic and industrial wastewater flows safely treated
6.3.2
Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality
6.4
6.4.1
Change in water-use efficiency over time
6.4.2
Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources
6.5
By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate
6.5.1
Degree of integrated water resources management
6.5.2
Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation
6.6
6.6.1
Change in the extent of water-related ecosystems over time
6.a
6.a.1
Amount of water- and sanitation-related official development assistance that is part of a government-coordinated spending plan
6.b
Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management
6.b.1
Proportion of local administrative units with established and operational policies and procedures for participation of local communities in water and sanitation management
Goal 13
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
13.1
Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries
13.1.1
Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
13.1.2
Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030
13.1.3
Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies
13.2
Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning
13.2.1
Number of countries with nationally determined contributions, long-term strategies, national adaptation plans and adaptation communications, as reported to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
13.2.2
Total greenhouse gas emissions per year
13.3
Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
13.3.1
Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment
13.a
Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible
13.a.1
Amounts provided and mobilized in United States dollars per year in relation to the continued existing collective mobilization goal of the $100 billion commitment through to 2025
13.b
Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities
13.b.1
Number of least developed countries and small island developing States with nationally determined contributions, long-term strategies, national adaptation plans and adaptation communications, as reported to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Goal 15
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
15.1
By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements
15.1.1
15.1.2
15.2
By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally
15.2.1
15.3
By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world
15.3.1
15.4
By 2030, ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide benefits that are essential for sustainable development
15.4.1
15.4.2
15.5
Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species
15.5.1
15.6
Promote fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and promote appropriate access to such resources, as internationally agreed
15.6.1
15.7
Take urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna and address both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products
15.7.1
15.8
By 2020, introduce measures to prevent the introduction and significantly reduce the impact of invasive alien species on land and water ecosystems and control or eradicate the priority species
15.8.1
15.9
By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts
15.9.1
(a) Number of countries that have established national targets in accordance with or similar to Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Target 14 in their national biodiversity strategy and action plans and the progress reported towards these targets; and (b) integration of biodiversity into national accounting and reporting systems, defined as implementation of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting
15.a
Mobilize and significantly increase financial resources from all sources to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ecosystems
15.a.1
(a) Official development assistance on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; and (b) revenue generated and finance mobilized from biodiversity-relevant economic instruments
15.b
Mobilize significant resources from all sources and at all levels to finance sustainable forest management and provide adequate incentives to developing countries to advance such management, including for conservation and reforestation
15.b.1
(a) Official development assistance on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; and (b) revenue generated and finance mobilized from biodiversity-relevant economic instruments
15.c
Enhance global support for efforts to combat poaching and trafficking of protected species, including by increasing the capacity of local communities to pursue sustainable livelihood opportunities
15.c.1
SDG 14 targets covered
| Name | Description |
|---|
Deliverables & Timeline
Pilot Implementation in 3 areas completed
Expansion into 2 new areas completed, for a total 5 monitored areas spanning 18,000 square kilometres.
10-year data set across 5 areas currently monitored by the CBWMF Network.
Resources mobilized
Partnership Progress
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Entity
Region
- North America
Geographical coverage
Other beneficiaries
Human communities, natural ecosystems.
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Contact Information
Nicole, Communications Director/Government Liaison