Le lac Saint-Charles est la source d’eau potable qui alimente plusieurs municipalités sur le territoire métropolitain de Québec, près de 300 000 personnes. La forte urbanisation de son bassin versant a accéléré sa dégradation. Les données scientifiques laissent croire que cette dégradation pourrait être irréversible si les actions requises ne sont pas mises en œuvre […]

Le Groupe d’experts intergouvernemental sur l’évolution du climat (GIEC) prévoit, suite aux changements climatiques, une augmentation de la fréquence et de l’intensité des précipitations extrêmes. Les impacts de ces bouleversements touchent plusieurs secteurs, dont la sécurité des infrastructures hydrauliques. Dans le but d’améliorer la connaissance sur ces événements et ultimement d’établir des plans d’adaptation, ce […]

Within a watershed, data are collected on various aspects of water (amount, withdrawals, returns, contaminant concentrations) by multiple groups, yet rarely shared at the basin scale. To reduce data “siloing” and make collected data available to multiple users interested in water management within a watershed context, data from multiple sources must be combined. Advancing Canadian […]

Understanding and measuring nitrogen supply in agricultural soils is a critical component in managing groundwater quality and minimizing impacts on the environment. Degraded water quality, primarily as nitrate contamination, is a growing concern in Atlantic Canada and agricultural fields are potential point sources. This project proposes to develop a baseline dataset from agricultural fields across […]

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) release to stormwater through wear of asphalt and tire as well as deposition of vehicle exhaust – are of great concern due to its acute toxic, carcinogenic and estrogenic effects on aquatic organisms. Stormwater contaminated with these organic pollutants pose a threat to receiving waters. Kerr Wood Leidal (KWL) is a […]

This project aims to operationalize innovative methods for developing cost effective wetland inventories across Alberta by use of numerous sources of remote sensing data, namely light detection and ranging (LiDAR), synthetic aperture Radar (SAR), and optical imagery. The project will formalize a mapping specification, develop training and validation datasets (available in-kind from the academic supervisor […]

The proposed study will examine the volcanological, mineralogical and geochemical evolution of the felsic volcanic complex hosting Horne deposit in a comparative study with the surrounding felsic volcanic centres in the Rouyn-Noranda region of Quebec. Volcanic and intrusive facies, alteration phases and mineralization styles will be described for each centre. Mineralization will be further examined […]

Many of Canada’s former resource towns are in a period of transition. The most successful often adaptively reuse the resources still available within the community: built resources as well as skills and cultural resources. This project develops a framework and toolkit of the creative processes in social innovation so that communities can reimagine themselves into […]

Wave uprush and the potential for flooding are natural hazards that must be determined by the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority (CRCA) prior to the approval of a near-shore development. The purpose of calculating wave uprush is to recommend building sites that are outside of the wave uprush area (and floodplain in general) to land owners […]

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a popular strategy for ocean conservation in Canada and several options are available to pursue this type of protection. However, the current federal and provincial processes for MPA development involve engagement in lengthy multi-stakeholder processes that can overwhelm local communities and their conservation objectives. An alternative strategy is the establishment […]

Low impact development (LID) technologies are increasingly part of the urban landscape for Canadian municipalities. Bioretention planters, also known as rain gardens, are an LID technology that infiltrates and filters runoff at the source. Though design guidance exists, there is little data available on the long term performance of LID technologies, such as bioretention systems. […]

In order to understand the movement of water in all its three phases on, under, and above the ground, scientists known as hydrologists use computer models. These models simulate the volume of water that runs through river in response to the amount of rainfall that has reached the ground during a specific time period. Hydrologists […]