A paired-catchment investigation of legacy harvesting impactsAnnie Gray, Master's Graduate, University of Waterloo
Webinar description:
This study evaluated the decadal-scale impacts of clearcut harvesting on stream DOC concentrations and export using a paired catchment approach (unharvested reference vs legacy clearcut) at the Turkey Lakes Watershed. The concentrations, spatial distribution, and hydrologic connectivity of hillslope solute pool DOC were evaluated. Additionally, stream DOC character was evaluated at event-scales using Liquid Chromatography-Organic Carbon Detection (LC-OCD). Key findings to be discussed include inter-catchment difference in stream DOC concentrations and character and the relevance of wetland position in a paired-catchment context. June 2023 |
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Investigating cyanobacteria across CanadaHadeel Abed, Master's Graduate, University of Waterloo
Webinar description:
In this study, the distribution of cyanobacterial communities across Canada were investigated from five major forested ecozones: Atlantic and Pacific Maritime, Boreal Shield and Plains, and the Montane Cordillera. This research demonstrated that cyanobacteria are highly widespread, there is very little biogeographic clustering in any of the ecozones (despite distinct biomes), and there is a significant gap in understanding the predominance, diversity, and activity of sequenced picocyanobacteria. This webinar will underscore the utility of next generation sequencing techniques in characterizing the seasonal distribution of toxin gene families, microcystin and lipoxygenase, and nitrogen metabolism genes families: cyanase, nitrogenase, and a global nitrogen regulator to better inform eutrophication potential and threats to the provision of safe drinking water. May 2023 |
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Legacy effects from forest harvesting on phosphorus transport dynamicsWill Fines, Master's Graduate, University of Waterloo
Webinar description:
Forests are a critical water supply region globally, which are increasingly threatened by natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Climate exacerbated disturbances such as wildfires, are of particular concern as they alter hydrologic and biogeochemical cycles that increase the transport of sediment and associated nutrients, such as phosphorus, to stream networks. Forest harvesting has been proposed as a potential source water protection strategy that lessens fuel loads and reduces wildfire risks. However, this strategy needs to be adopted with caution as forest harvesting can also increase phosphorus transport to streams. This study evaluates the immediate and legacy impacts of multiple forest harvesting strategies on phosphorus transport dynamics within hardwood dominated, Canadian Shield headwater catchments at the Turkey Lakes Watershed. Additionally, the physical processes (i.e., source channel connectivity and source availability) in a legacy clear-cut and control catchment were evaluated. February 2023 |
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Hydrology is a key driver of water quality & treatability changes on Canada’s Pacific CoastAlyssa Bourgeois, Master's Graduate, University of Alberta
Webinar description:
Despite the critical global importance of forested landscapes as sources of drinking water, few studies have examined the effects of forestry on water quality and treatability. Key questions that remain unanswered are:
Targeted water quality monitoring revealed that water quality and treatability exhibited greatest variation with storm and seasonal changes in hydrology across spatially distinct subwatersheds with various levels of disturbance by forest harvesting. This study suggests that temporal (i.e., hydrologic) factors predominated over spatial ones (i.e., forest harvest and catchment characteristics) in impacting water quality and treatability in this region. February 2023 |
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Assessing wildfire risk to municipal drinking water using paleoecologyNicholas Hebda, PhD Graduate, University of British Columbia
Webinar Description: Wildfire regimes are changing, with fires becoming more frequent and intense globally as climate change advances, putting natural capital such as surface water at risk. Wildfires can detrimentally impact surface water quality by burning vegetation and altering soils, leading to increased erosion and release of contaminants into waterways, including reservoirs. Here, a multi-proxy paleoecological investigation assesses the risk posed by wildfire to water supply in a municipal drinking water catchment.
Sediment records from Sooke Lake Reservoir and adjacent Begbie Lake were analyzed for charcoal, magnetic susceptibility, geochemistry, pollen, and diatoms to quantitatively reconstruct the terrestrial and aquatic biogeochemical impacts of five past fire events at sub-decadal resolutions. Overall, this study suggests that Sooke Lake Reservoir and Begbie Lake are vulnerable to post-fire effects which last for many years before pre-fire conditions return. The novel approach developed and demonstrated in this study can be applied to assess the wildfire risk to any surface water basin with a sufficiently long and intact sedimentary record. December 2022 |
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Biofiltration for drinking water treatment & climate change resilienceEmma Blackburn, a recently graduated Master's student, forWater member, and part of the Water Science, Technology & Policy group at the University of Waterloo, presents her work on biofiltration and techno-ecological nature-based solutions.
Webinar description: Climate change-exacerbated landscape disturbances, such as wildfires and floods, are increasingly challenging drinking water treatment. They result in more runoff and lead to more variable and deteriorated source water quality. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) can be especially challenging to treat because it can be smaller and more aromatic after disturbance. "Green" or nature-based solutions are increasingly proposed to address these challenges; however, they have not yet been defined, making it difficult for stakeholders to communicate priorities. Additionally, their resilience in response to landscape disturbances have not yet been investigated. This research presents a framework to evaluate green technologies in the water industry and its implications specifically to drinking water treatment. Biological filtration treatment resilience was investigated post-disturbance, specifically post-wildfire, because wildfire disturbances result in especially severe consequences for water quality. This work provided a proof-of-concept demonstration that biological filtration can buffer elevated source water DOM after wildfire, although its resilience may be challenged under certain conditions. May 25, 2022 |
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A geographer's take on risks, data, and watershedsFrançois-Nicolas Robinne, a research scientist at the Canadian Forest Service, shares his expertise utilizing wildfire and freshwater data to identify watershed risks on May 19th.
Webinar description: Water security risks are at an all-time high, as various aspects of global change combine to wreak havoc on communities and ecosystems around the world. For the past 10 years, wildfires have emerged as an additional threat to sustainable water supplies; Canada, a fire-prone country well-known for its mighty rivers, is now taking a stronger stance to address this issue. Building risk knowledge conducive to sound policies is not an easy task, especially for emerging risks for which data, scope of study, and a well-defined terminology might be lacking. Focusing on wildfire-watershed risks, Robinne will review the existing risk terminology and suggest appropriate uses so that studies on this topic are properly framed. He will also discuss the importance of data, especially data openness, for the creation of much-needed baseline knowledge. Finally, Robinne will address several gaps and opportunities to advance wildfire-watershed risk research in Canada in the near-future. May 19, 2022 |
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forWater Forum:
Insights, Connections & Opportunities The forWater Forum allowed the Network to connect in April to build on 4+ years of cross-theme collaborations and synergies.
The forWater Forum agenda included:
3. Turkey Lakes Watershed Research team
5. Young Professional perspectives - Part 1- Uldis Silins
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2. David Olefeldt & Fariba Amiri
4. Sarah Dickson-Anderson & Monica Emelko
6. Young Professional perspectives - Part 2 - Uldis Silins & Closing Remarks - Monica Emelko
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Cyanobacterial communities in temperate watersheds with
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Coastal cyanobacterial communities with Tim ShardlowTim Shardlow, recently graduated Master's student from the University of Waterloo, shares his research focused on the cyanobacterial communities found in the Pockwock Lake, Comox Lake, Leech River and Sooke River watersheds.
Webinar description: It is important to detect the presence of potentially harmful cyanobacteria prior to any associated water quality shifts. In this study, a synoptic field sampling campaign was conducted in the Pockwock Lake watershed (Nova Scotia, Canada), the Comox Lake watershed (British Columbia, Canada), and the Leech River and Sooke River watersheds (British Columbia, Canada). Findings from this study provide insights into the presence of cyanobacteria in water resources relied upon as drinking water supplies and underscores some potential commonalities for their potential to deteriorate water quality and challenge drinking water treatability in diverse forested watersheds in Canada. June 9, 2021 - 53:08 |
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Natural organic matter in the Greater Victoria water supply with Hannah McSorleyHannah McSorley shares her research findings focused on natural organic matter (NOM), exploring what patterns emerged and what were key drivers for the observed dynamics across a Greater Victoria water supply.
January 29, 2021 |
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Forestry 101 with Uldis SilinsThis webinar outlines the concept of “Silvicultural Systems” that serves as a basic starting point for sustainable forest management worldwide. The webinar introduces “shade tolerance” of tree species as an elementary principle of tree autecology or “silvics” that guides the selection of varied forest harvesting, regeneration, and stand tending practices across different forest regions.
March 20, 2020 - (59:18) |
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Water Treatability with Monica Emelko
Monica shares how forests are critical sources of drinking water in the context of the forWater network and how landscape disturbance can impact source water. Other topics covered include: the evolving concept of source water protection (SWP), the multi-barrier approach, pathogen risks, and drinking water treatment vs. drinking water treatability.
(Webinar will be posted at a later date)
(Webinar will be posted at a later date)
forWater Year 3 Webinar
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Webinar Agenda - April 28, 2020
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Theme 1: Watershed Science & Forest Management - Year 3 Presentation
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Atlantic Maritime Platform
Presenters: Rob Jamieson, Peter Duinker Contributions: David Foster, Dillon Langelaan, Lindsay Johnston, James Aksenchuk, Charlotte Large (Dalhousie), Barry Geddes, Reid Campbell, Wendy Krkosek (Halifax Water), James Steenberg, Kevin Keys (NS Lands and Forests), Marcus Zwicker (Westfor Management Inc.) |
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Boreal Shield Platform
Presenter: Jim Buttle Contributions: Nan Qi, Cassidy Cameron, Emily Morgan (Trent), Kara Webster, Jason Leach, Erik Emilson, Paul Hazlett (Canadian Forest Service), Fariba Amiri (UWaterloo) |
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Boreal Plain Platform
Presenter: Kevin Devito Contributions: David Olefeldt, Carl Mendoza, Emily Pugh, Kelly Hokanson, Julia Orlova, Lauren Thompson, Brooke Hehr (UAlberta) |
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Montane Cordillera Platform
Presenter: Uldis Silins Contributions: Miles Dyck, Sylvie Quideau, Chris Williams, Erin Cherlet, Daniel White, Emma Hawksworth, Kaegan Finn, Sheena Spencer, Derek Mueller, Rebecca Baldock, Samantha Karpyshin, Dan Greenacre, Melissa Howard (UAlberta) |
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Pacific Maritime Platform
Presenter: Suzanne Tank Contributions: Mark Johnson (UBC), Bill Floyd (VIU), Emily Mistick, Tracy Wang (UBC), Hannah McSorely (UBC/VIU), Alyssa Bourgeois (UAlberta), (Capital Regional District), (Mosaic Forest Management), (Comox Valley Regional District) |
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Theme 2: Downstream Effects Propagation - Year 3 Presentation
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Presenter: Mike Stone
Contributions: Axel Anderson (UAlberta), Nandita Basu (UWaterloo), Collins (Rothamsted, UK), Krishnappan (Environment Canada) |
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Theme 3: Water Treatability - Year 3 Presentation
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Presenter: Monica Emelko
Contributions: Kirsten Müller (UWaterloo), Nick Ashbolt (UAlberta), Sarah Dickson-Anderson (McMaster), Fariba Amiri (UWaterloo) |
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Theme 4: Resource Economics - Year 3 Presentation
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Presenter: Roy Brouwer
Contributions: Zehua Pan, Khusro Mir (UWaterloo) |
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