Multivariate Analysis of Canadian Water Quality Data

Abstract

Physical-chemical water quality data from lotic water monitoring sites across Canada were integrated into one dataset. Two overlapping matrices of data were analyzed with principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis to uncover structure and patterns in the data. The first matrix (Matrix A) had 107 sites located throughout Canada, and the following water quality parameters: pH, specific conductance (SC), and total phosphorus (TP). The second matrix (Matrix B) included more variables: calcium (Ca), chloride (Cl), total alkalinity (T_ALK), dissolved oxygen (DO), water temperature (WT), pH, SC and TP; for a subset of 42 sites. Landscape characteristics were calculated for each water quality monitoring site and their importance in explaining water quality data was examined through redundancy analysis.

The first principal components in the analyses of Matrix A and B were most correlated with SC, suggesting this parameter is the most representative of water quality variance at the scale of Canada. Overlaying cluster analysis results on PCA information proved an excellent mean to identify the major water characteristics defining each group; mapping cluster analysis group membership provided information on their spatial distribution and was found informative with regards to the probable environmental influences on each group. Redundancy analyses produced significant predictive models of water quality demonstrating that landscape characteristics are determinant factors in water quality at the country scale. The proportion of cropland and the mean annual total precipitation in the drainage area were the landscape variables with the most variance explained.

Assembling a consistent dataset of water quality data from monitoring locations throughout Canada proved difficult due to the unevenness of the monitoring programs in place. It is therefore recommended that a standard for the monitoring of a minimum core set of water quality variable be implemented throughout the country to support future nation-wide analysis of water quality data.