Water Research: Reflections from In-Land Deltas and Beyond 5 years - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Water Research: Reflections from In-Land Deltas and Beyond

5 years ago today

Significant investment in research Saskatchewan River Basin  Large-scale Observatory: Saskatchewan River Basin (410,000 km 2 )  Regional Hydro-climate Project of GEWEX

Water security in the Saskatchewan River Basin siesci.org

Governance Matters

Saskatchewan River delta team Ken Belcher Keith Hobson Helen Baulch Iain Phillips Tim Jardine Ross Willness Chris Asante Jordan Mihalicz Brett MacKinnon David Janz Dave Natcher Derek Green Bob Patrick Will Schenn Lorne Doig Graham Strickert Howard Wheater Toddi Steelman Nick Bond Doug Clark Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt Evan Andrews Elmira Hassanzadeh Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle, Lori Maureen Reed Lalita Bharadwaj Bradford, Merle Massie, Jay Sagin, Razak Abu Rebecca Zagozewski Sun Chun, Kiri Staples Ferlin McKay Ernest MacKenzie Michela Carriere Georgina Deschambeault Denise MacKenzie Ian Fosseneuve Melvin Fosseneuve Kelvin Fiddler Nadina Gardiner Bobby Cheechoo Les Carriere Mika Carriere Robert McKay Lennard Morin Napoleon McKay Val Deschambeault Delta Stewardship John Carriere Ingrid MacColl Noel Kadachuk Committee Robert McAuley Lily McKay-Carriere Angus McKenzie Bev Cheechoo Clifford Carriere Kelvin McKay Solomon Carriere Gary Carriere Gerald Favel Joe Fiddler Floyd MacKenzie Harold Fosseneuve John Carriere Leonard MacKenzie Renee Carriere Raymond Dussion Dennis Fosseneuve

Saskatchewan River Delta Garth Lenz/Canadian Geographic. Kindly do not distribute Garth Lenz/Canadian Geographic. Kindly do not distribute Garth Lenz/Canadian Geographic. Kindly do not distribute

100-year flow record – Saskatchewan River at The Pas, MB EB Campbell Dam (Tobin Lake) Gardiner Dam (Lake Diefenbaker) Increased winter baseflow and reduced summer peaks

Landsat, SPOT, RapidEye imagery 327 m 3 /s Normalized Difference Water Index Estimate Surface Water Coverage Area Sagin et al. 2015

Many isolated wetlands connect to the 1050 m 3 /s river during flood events Sagin et al. 2015

Wetlands that connect to the river (category “1”) have higher oxygen, and lower ammonia than those that don’t get flushed as often Ammonia Dissolved Oxygen 4 15 3 10 2 5 1 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Windy Lake Ben’s Lake Mackinnon et al. 2015

Gary Carriere

Two major changes: Seasonal and Daily flows Not enough water in spring & summer Hydropeaking creates havoc for Too much water in winter wildlife and for transportation Mostly due to Gardiner Dam Due to EB Campbell Dam • Mimic the natural pattern of water flow • In spring and summer, increase Flood the delta in the spring and summer • minimum flow In late fall and winter, decrease • EB Campbell can only do so much maximum flow

Graham’s Work

Observed Changes: Temperature and Precipitation Debeer et al., 2015

Observed Changes: Glaciers Debeer et al., 2015

Debeer et al., 2015

Debeer et al., 2015

Human Dimensions of a Thawing Landscape Partnership

“Our knowledge doesn’t work so good anymore; the animals are confused – we are confused”

“I’ve never seen or heard of weather like this, its gone crazy”

We depend on our rivers, our rivers need us… • Research that is accessible, responsive and empathetic

Global Water Futures – Transdisciplinary Science Pillars • Pillar 1 - Diagnosing and Predicting Change in Cold Regions • Pillar 2 - Developing Big Data and Decision Support Systems • Pillar 3 - Designing User Solutions

Observing Earth’s Water Environment

Big Data for Water

Our Rivers Depend on Reconciliation “Reconciliation means finding the courage to look at our past with eyes wide open, unafraid to see our country at its worst, and then, humbly, take steps to heal the damage done.” (Ry Moran – Director the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation University of Manitoba