Human Activity and the Environment: Annual Statistics: Tables

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16-201-XWE

Human Activity and the Environment: Annual Statistics
2006

Tables

Table 2.3
Water resource characteristics by major river basin¹

	Major river basin	Total area ²	Water area ³
			Total	As a share of total	Per capita 2001
	code	square kilometres		percent	square meters

Canada	…	9,978,904	1,174,452	11.8	39,139
Pacific Coastal	1	334,452	15,041	4.5	10,944
Fraser - Lower Mainland	2	233,105	9,015	3.9	4,462
Okanagan - Similkameen	3	15,603	650	4.2	2,279
Columbia	4	87,321	2,482	2.8	15,457
Yukon	5	332,906	9,329	2.8	343,653
Peace - Athabasca	6	485,146	16,725	3.4	48,306
Lower Mackenzie	7	1,330,481	176,937	13.3	3,623,373
Arctic Coast - Islands	8	1,764,279	177,906	10.1	10,617,432
Missouri	9	27,097	1,129	4.2	120,359
North Saskatchewan	10	150,151	7,245	4.8	5,539
South Saskatchewan	11	177,623	6,243	3.5	3,522
Assiniboine - Red	12	190,705	9,098	4.8	6,665
Winnipeg	13	107,654	20,599	19.1	247,350
Lower Saskatchewan - Nelson	14	360,883	67,612	18.7	309,699
Churchill	15	313,572	51,858	16.5	593,728
Keewatin - Southern Baffin Island	16	939,568	161,438	17.2	13,416,290
Northern Ontario	17	691,811	55,952	8.1	391,174
Northern Quebec	18	940,194	148,986	15.8	1,426,559
Great Lakes - St. Lawrence	19	582,945	134,928	23.1	7,624
North Shore - Gaspé	20	369,094	37,363	10.1	74,117
Saint John - St. Croix	21	41,904	1,800	4.3	4,481
Maritime Coastal	22	122,056	6,728	5.5	4,469
Newfoundland and Labrador	23	380,355	55,388	14.6	107,731

	Major river basin	Total area ²	Mean annual
			Streamflow ⁴
			Rate	Total	Per unit area	As a share of total
	code	square kilometres	cubic metres per second	cubic kilometres	thousands of cubic metres per square kilometre	percent

Canada	…	9,978,904	105,135	3,315.5	332	100.0
Pacific Coastal	1	334,452	16,390	516.9	1,545	15.6
Fraser - Lower Mainland	2	233,105	3,972	125.3	537	3.8
Okanagan - Similkameen	3	15,603	74	2.3	150	0.1
Columbia	4	87,321	2,009	63.4	726	1.9
Yukon	5	332,906	2,506	79.0	237	2.4
Peace - Athabasca	6	485,146	2,903	91.5	189	2.8
Lower Mackenzie	7	1,330,481	7,337	231.4	174	7.0
Arctic Coast - Islands	8	1,764,279	8,744	275.8	156	8.3
Missouri	9	27,097	12	0.4	14	0.0
North Saskatchewan	10	150,151	234	7.4	49	0.2
South Saskatchewan	11	177,623	239	7.5	42	0.2
Assiniboine - Red	12	190,705	50	1.6	8	0.0
Winnipeg	13	107,654	758	23.9	222	0.7
Lower Saskatchewan - Nelson	14	360,883	1,911	60.3	167	1.8
Churchill	15	313,572	701	22.1	70	0.7
Keewatin - Southern Baffin Island	16	939,568	5,383	169.8	181	5.1
Northern Ontario	17	691,811	5,995	189.1	273	5.7
Northern Quebec	18	940,194	16,830	530.8	565	16.0
Great Lakes - St. Lawrence	19	582,945	7,197	227.0	389	6.8
North Shore - Gaspé	20	369,094	8,159	257.3	697	7.8
Saint John - St. Croix	21	41,904	779	24.6	586	0.7
Maritime Coastal	22	122,056	3,628	114.4	937	3.5
Newfoundland and Labrador	23	380,355	9,324	294.0	773	8.9

	Major river basin	Total area ²	Precipitation annual mean ⁵		Dams
			Rate	Volume	Number	Generating capacity ⁶
	code	square kilometres	millimetres	cubic kilometres	units	megawatts

Canada	…	9,978,904	545	5,451	1,462	67,411
Pacific Coastal	1	334,452	1,354	451	50	1,648
Fraser - Lower Mainland	2	233,105	670	156	24	848
Okanagan - Similkameen	3	15,603	466	7	3	594
Columbia	4	87,321	776	68	56	5,153
Yukon	5	332,906	346	115	10	76
Peace - Athabasca	6	485,146	497	241	17	3,427
Lower Mackenzie	7	1,330,481	365	486	18	83
Arctic Coast - Islands	8	1,764,279	189	333	0	0
Missouri	9	27,097	390	11	2	13
North Saskatchewan	10	150,151	443	67	6	504
South Saskatchewan	11	177,623	419	74	21	310
Assiniboine - Red	12	190,705	450	86	3	168
Winnipeg	13	107,654	683	74	98	905
Lower Saskatchewan - Nelson	14	360,883	508	183	60	4,941
Churchill	15	313,572	480	151	12	119
Keewatin - Southern Baffin Island	16	939,568	330	310	0	0
Northern Ontario	17	691,811	674	466	60	1,116
Northern Quebec	18	940,194	698	656	66	15,238
Great Lakes - St. Lawrence	19	582,945	957	556	623	12,515
North Shore - Gaspé	20	369,094	994	367	129	10,785
Saint John - St. Croix	21	41,904	1,147	48	54	1,864
Maritime Coastal	22	122,056	1,251	153	60	411
Newfoundland and Labrador	23	380,355	1,030	392	90	6,693

1.	These major river basins and associated flow measures are adapted from Laycock (1987) (see full reference below). Some of these river basin aggregates have more than one outflow.
2.	Area includes the Canadian portion of the Great Lakes.
3.	Water area figures are calculated from the Canada-wide 1-km water fraction derived from National Topographic Database maps.
4.	Basins at the US-Canada border exclude inflow from U.S. portion of basin region.
5.	Precipitation has been estimated from an Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation of the 1971 to 2000 normals.
6.	The generating capacity refers to the maximum power capability from hydro plants. The survey coverage for those plants is limited to those utilities and companies which have at least one plant with a total generating capacity of over 500 kilowatts.
Source(s):		Environment Canada, 2003, Canadian Climate Normals, 1971 to 2000, Meteorological Service of Canada, climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html (accessed February 23, 2005). Pearse, P.H., F. Bertrand and J.W. MacLaren, 1985, Currents of Change: Final Report of the Inquiry on Federal Water Policy, Environment Canada, Ottawa. Fernandes, R., G. Pavlic, W. Chen and R. Fraser, 2001, Canada-wide 1-km² water fraction, National Topographic Database, Natural Resources Canada, www.nrcan.gc.ca/ess/_portal_esst.cache/gc_ccrs_e (accessed February 23, 2005). Laycock, A.H., 1987, "The Amount of Canadian Water and its Distribution", in Canadian Aquatic Resources, no. 215 of Canadian Bulletin of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, M.C. Healey and R.R. Wallace (eds.), 13-42, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ottawa. Natural Resources Canada, GeoAccess Division, 2003, 1:1 Million Digital Drainage Area Framework, version 4.8b. Statistics Canada, 2001 Census of Population. "Electric Power Generating Stations", catalogue no. 57-206-X.