Essential Information Shared in New Chapter on Climate Change Implications for Drinking Water

​Monica Emelko, professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering and expert in water quality and treatability science, is a lead author of a new chapter titled Climate Change Implications for DBP Occurrence in Municipal Drinking Water, featured in The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry (Springer, 2024). This contribution offers critical insights into the evolving challenges posed by climate change to municipal water supplies.

The chapter explores how warming global temperatures, hydroclimatic changes, and climate shocks disrupt landscapes, influencing the mobilization and delivery of disinfection by-product (DBP) precursors to water systems. DBPs, formed during water treatment processes, are a persistent concern for water managers due to their potential health risks. The authors examine how alterations in land cover, soil characteristics, erosion, and runoff impact DBP precursor behavior, presenting a framework to understand these interlinked processes.

“Climate change is reshaping how landscapes interact with water systems,” says Dr. Emelko. “This chapter highlights the importance of considering these dynamics to ensure safe and sustainable drinking water supplies amid a changing climate.”

Dr. Emelko’s research focuses on safeguarding drinking water sources in the face of environmental challenges. Her work continues to bridge the gap between academic research and practical water management, offering actionable solutions for communities worldwide.

This chapter, co-authored with esteemed colleagues Drs. Chow, Amiri, Chen, and Stone, underscores the importance of collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches to addressing climate-driven threats to water quality.
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As global temperatures rise and extreme weather events become more frequent, the insights shared in this chapter will be invaluable for water resource managers and policymakers seeking to protect public health and enhance climate resilience in water systems.

From coast to coast, across Canada, ongoing research collaborations continue to advance forWater partner priorities.

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta is working with forWater students and researchers to investigate the continued impacts of the 2016 Horse River wildfire on source water quality and drinking water treatment needs. As cyanobacteria have been detected each summer since the fire and carbon character is transforming in the reservoir, reservoir management and treatment response options are being investigated. 
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Halifax Water and the province of Nova Scotia more broadly saw unprecedented wildfires this summer, which included the Tantallon and Hammonds Plains, which occurred in close proximity to Pockwock Lake. forWater researchers met with Halifax Water to provide guidance regarding water, sediment, and ash sampling to assess potential short- and longer-term water quality and treatability impacts of the wildfires.

The Capital Regional District on Vancouver Island is engaged with forWater lab personnel and researchers in baseline characterization of water quality and associated treatability in their watershed. Establishing knowledge about baseline water quality is essential to recognizing change in systems and ensuring resiliency in water treatment.

The City of Calgary is working with forWater researchers to understand the occurrence of taste and odour compounds (specifically geosmin) that are becoming increasingly problematic in their source water and also are running pilot-scale filtration investigations to identify strategies for increased performance and resilience during treatment. This work directly contributes to identifying strategies for balancing source water protection, treatment process optimization, and treatment technology investment decisions.

Annie Gray, MSc Graduate, University of Waterloo
​Webinar: June 20th @ 12:30pm

​Detailed title: Dissolved organic carbon concentration and character in northern hardwood-dominated headwater catchments: A paired-catchment investigation of long-term clearcutting impacts

Webinar description: Forest harvesting is an important primary industry in Canada and a proposed source water protection (SWP) strategy for landscape disturbances such as wildfire. The benefits of forest harvesting as a SWP strategy must be weighed against the potential impacts it may have on water quality and treatability. Most studies of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) take place less than 10 years post-harvesting. Accordingly, less is known about the long-term (decadal-scale) impacts of forest harvesting on stream DOC. Understanding forest harvesting impacts on stream DOC is key to the sustainable management of forested source watersheds.

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.

Bio
Annie Gray recently defended her Master’s thesis in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo. Her field-based research focused on evaluating the decadal-scale impacts of clear-cut harvesting on the dynamics of stream and hillslope dissolved organic carbon to better understand forest harvesting in the context of source water protection. Previously a research assistant for the Global Water Futures project, Annie received her B.Sc. in Geography and Geomatics from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2020. Her work for Global Water Futures entailed the creation of open-source web applications in the contexts of flood hazard mitigation and community-based water quality monitoring. Annie has previously worked as an IT technician for the Rouge National Urban Park, as a broadcast technician for Rogers TV, and as a sports broadcast and theatre technician for Wilfrid Laurier University.