This data is intended to identify Canadian fresh waters which require additional measures (e.g., ballast water exchange and treatment) prior to release, as described in https://tc.canada.ca/en/marine-transportation/marine-safety/list-canada-s-designated-alternate-ballast-water-exchange-area-fresh-waters-tp-13617e-2021. The data is not intended for navigation purposes.According to Canada’s Ballast Water Regulations, vessels which are managing ballast water to meet the ballast water performance standard cannot release ballast water into fresh waters unless that ballast water was first exchanged in accordance with the ballast water exchange standard. For the purpose of this requirement, Canadian fresh waters are the following:- the waters at the Port of Kitimat and waters in or upstream of the Kitimat Arm, east of a line between Hilton Point and Steel Point;- the waters at the Port of Stewart and waters in or upstream of the Portland Canal, north of a line between Portland Point and Ramsden Point;- the waters of all Fraser River ports that are: -- east of Tilbury Island in the main arm of the Fraser River including Annacis Island and New Westminster docking areas; and -- east of the eastern tip of Mitchell Island in the north arm of Fraser River;- the waters of the Saguenay River ports and waters upstream of L’Anse-Creuse;- the waters of all St. Lawrence River ports and waters west of the east point of Ile d’Orléans including the port of Quebec City;- all Canadian waters of the Great Lakes Basin; and- the waters of Happy Valley-Goose Bay and waters of Lake Melville west of Rabbit Island.Legal Constraints: Users should be aware that the polygons depicting areas requiring additional measures to manage ballast water are intended for illustration only and should not be used for navigational or legal purposes.

Province-wide spatial view showing licensed water sources (streams and lakes), under the Water Act, (current and historical), not captured (displayed) on TRIM base mapping (or Freshwater Atlas base mapping).

Linear coastlines of BC, including mainland and marine islands. Lines are directionalized and connected. Attributes include a hierarchical key and route identifier

Glaciers and ice masses for the province, derived from aerial imagery flown in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Please refer to the [Glaciers](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/glaciers) dataset for recent glacier extents in British Columbia, and [Historical Glaciers](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/historical-glaciers) for a comparable historic view.

Water obstacles (rapids, falls, etc)

All double line river polygons for the province

All island polygons. Islands may overlap as there are islands within islands (e.g., a lake on an island contains an island). GNIS_NAME_1 contains the most atomic name for the island. For example, there are 3797 "Haida Gwaii" islands. If the island has not been named as part of a more specific group or with an individual name, "Haida Gwaii" is the GNIS_NAME_1 value. GNIS_NAME_2 and GNIS_NAME_3 values are null. If the island has a more specific name, "Haida Gwaii" moves to GNIS_NAME_2, and the more atomic name, such as "Moresby Island" is the GNIS_NAME_1. If the island has an individual name, belongs to a group, and is part of Haida Gwaii, the same logic of naming from most to least specific applies. For example, GNIS_NAME_1 = "George Island", GNIS_NAME_2 = "Copper Islands", GNIS_NAME_3 = "Haida Gwaii".

Named point features (both fresh and marine) such as points of land, etc. Point names included as an attribute

All lake polygons for the province

Assessment Watersheds are mesoscale aquatic units designed to replace the 3rd order 1:50K watersheds. Assessment Watersheds are based on groupings of fundamental watersheds using FWA watershed code and local code, with a target size of between 2,000ha and 10,000ha.