Shifts in river flow regimes are often preceded by physiographic and hydroclimatic changes. Recent literature has identified key streamflow signatures to support the large-scale evaluation of river flow resilience to environmental changes, including climate change. However, although large-scale evaluations are useful for informing national water resources management, few exist Canada-wide. The focus was on over 1,000 Water Survey of Canada monitoring stations in all provinces and territories, with >10 years of daily flow data. Select flow signatures, including the coefficient of variation of daily flow (CVQ) were calculated at annual and seasonal scales. The CVQ was notably used to distinguish erratic flow regimes, which are highly variable and thought to be less resilient to climate change, from persistent, more resilient flow regimes. For the watersheds associated with each Water Survey of Canada monitoring station, hydroclimate and landscape characteristics were derived and evaluated as predictors of flow resilience across Canada. Preliminary results suggest that the majority of watersheds have erratic flow regimes, although seasonal differences exist. Saskatchewan is the province with the highest number of streams experiencing erratic flow regimes. Larger watersheds and watersheds with greater surface-water coverage are typically associated with persistent flow regimes, while higher cropland cover and higher percentages of clay soils were typically associated with erratic flow regimes. This Canada-wide comparison exercise may offer insight into watersheds that could benefit from targeted management strategies, which is important in the context of ongoing global climate change.
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