Water Research: Reflections from In-Land Deltas and

Beyond

5 years ago today

Saskatchewan River Basin

Large-scale Observatory: Saskatchewan River Basin (410,000 km2) Regional Hydro-climate Project of GEWEX

Significant investment in research

Water security in the Saskatchewan River Basin

siesci.org

Governance Matters

Saskatchewan River delta team

Howard Wheater Nick Bond

Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt Elmira Hassanzadeh

Keith Hobson Chris Asante

Tim Jardine Brett MacKinnon Derek Green

Maureen Reed Razak Abu

Dave Natcher

Ken Belcher Ross Willness

Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle, Lori Bradford, Merle Massie, Jay Sagin, Sun Chun, Kiri Staples

Graham Strickert Toddi Steelman Doug Clark Evan Andrews

Angus McKenzie

Delta Stewardship Committee

David Janz Will Schenn

Lalita Bharadwaj Rebecca Zagozewski

Bob Patrick

Helen Baulch

Lorne Doig

Iain Phillips Jordan Mihalicz

Lennard Morin

Renee Carriere

Ingrid MacColl

Lily McKay-Carriere

Clifford Carriere

John Carriere

Solomon Carriere Gary Carriere

John Carriere

Mika Carriere

Val Deschambeault Robert McKay

Georgina Deschambeault

Kelvin McKay

Bobby Cheechoo

Napoleon McKay

Nadina Gardiner

Floyd MacKenzie

Raymond Dussion

Denise MacKenzie

Noel Kadachuk

Bev Cheechoo

Dennis Fosseneuve

Kelvin Fiddler Les Carriere

Gerald Favel

Ernest MacKenzie

Leonard MacKenzie

Robert McAuley

Joe Fiddler Harold Fosseneuve

Ferlin McKay

Melvin Fosseneuve Ian Fosseneuve

Michela Carriere

Garth Lenz/Canadian Geographic. Kindly do not distribute

Saskatchewan River Delta

Garth Lenz/Canadian Geographic. Kindly do not distribute

Garth Lenz/Canadian Geographic. Kindly do not distribute

EB Campbell Dam (Tobin Lake)

Gardiner Dam (Lake Diefenbaker)

100-year flow record – Saskatchewan River at The Pas, MB

Increased winter baseflow and reduced summer peaks

Landsat, SPOT, RapidEye imagery Normalized Difference Water Index Estimate Surface Water Coverage Area

327 m3/s

Sagin et al. 2015

1050 m3/s

Many isolated wetlands connect to the river during flood events

Sagin et al. 2015

0

1

2

3

4

1 2 3 4 5

Ammonia

0

5

10

15

1 2 3 4 5

Dissolved Oxygen

Wetlands that connect to the river (category “1”) have higher oxygen, and lower ammonia than those that don’t get flushed as often

Windy Lake Ben’s Lake

Mackinnon et al. 2015

Gary Carriere

Two major changes: Seasonal and Daily flows

Not enough water in spring & summer Too much water in winter Mostly due to Gardiner Dam

Hydropeaking creates havoc for wildlife and for transportation Due to EB Campbell Dam

• Mimic the natural pattern of water flow • Flood the delta in the spring and summer EB Campbell can only do so much

• In spring and summer, increase minimum flow

• In late fall and winter, decrease 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

• Pillar 1 - Diagnosing and Predicting Change in Cold Regions

• Pillar 2 - Developing Big Data and Decision Support Systems

• Pillar 3 - Designing User Solutions

Global Water Futures – Transdisciplinary Science Pillars

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