What This Site Covers
RiverMarket focuses on three areas where planners frequently lack working knowledge: reading topographic maps at a watershed scale, understanding the naming conventions used for rivers and tributaries across Canadian provinces and territories, and locating and interpreting seasonal flow records from federal hydrometric monitoring networks.
The material here is drawn from publicly available sources — Natural Resources Canada, the Water Survey of Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and provincial mapping programs. No proprietary data is used, and all source links are provided in the relevant articles.
Who the Content is For
The primary audience is municipal planners, rural land-use officers, and development consultants who need a working understanding of watershed data but do not have a background in hydrology or cartography. Secondary audiences include community groups engaged in official plan reviews, journalists covering land development near river corridors, and students in urban planning and environmental studies programs.
Editorial Approach
Articles describe methods and data sources factually. The site does not advocate for particular development policies or take positions on specific projects. Where regulatory requirements vary by province or territory, that variation is noted rather than generalised.
Statistics and measurements cited on this site come from publicly accessible government publications. Where exact current figures are unavailable, the text says so rather than estimating.
External References
This site links to the following authoritative sources:
- Natural Resources Canada — Topographic Maps
- Water Survey of Canada — Hydrometric Data
- Environment and Climate Change Canada — Water Overview
- GeoGratis — Free Federal Geospatial Data
Contact
Factual corrections, missing citations, and general enquiries can be directed to info@rivermarket.org. The editorial contact is in Ottawa, Ontario.
Page last reviewed: May 2026