Canmore Water Workshop

Past and Future Hydroclimatic Variability:
Applications to Water Resource Management in the Prairie Provinces

16-18 March 2008
Canmore, AB

[Original Announcement & Agenda]

[Pre-Workshop Readings]

Monday, March 17

8:30 - 8:45: Welcome and purpose of workshop – Dave Sauchyn (800 Kb)

8:45 – 10:00: Keynote presentations – chair: Scott St. George

• Connie Woodhouse, University of Arizona: Tree-ring records and water management in Colorado (1.4 Mb)
• Charlie Ester, Manager of the Salt River Project: The operational use of tree-ring reconstructions of streamflow and GCM scenarios in Arizona (2 Mb)

10:30 – 12:00: Paleo-hydroclimate records from Canada’s western interior – chair: Bill Girling

• Brian Luckman, University of Western Ontario and Emma Watson, Toronto: Tree-ring reconstructions of hydroclimate for the southern Cordillera (3.3 Mb)
• Dave Sauchyn, PARC: Tree-ring reconstruction of hydroclimate in the Saskatchewan and Churchill River Basins (3 Mb)
• Scott St. George, Geological Survey of Canada: Tree rings and past drought on the Canadian Prairies (16 Mb)
• Brian Cumming, Queen’s University: Long records of prairie hydroclimate from lake sediments (3 Mb)

1:00 – 2:00: Water Managers’ Perspectives on the Potential for using Long Hydroclimate Records for Water Resource Management In western Canada – chair: Bob Sandford

• Bill Girling, MB Hydro: From the perspective of a hydroelectric utility (1 Mb)
• Bart Oegema, SWA and Sal Figliuzzi, Alberta Environment: From the perspective of provincial water management (125 Kb)
• Steve Stanley, EPCOR: From the perspective a water utility (365 Kb)

2:00 – 2:30: Keynote presentation – chair: Sal Figliuzzi

• Ben Harding, AMEC Earth & Environmental, Inc., Boulder, Colorado: Climate Change Scenarios and water supply forecasting in Colorado (1 Mb)

3:00 – 5:00: Break out Discussion of The Application of Paleo-Hydroclimate Records

• Theme #1: application to water management policy and practices (560 Kb)
• Theme #2: practical and technical issues (70 Kb)
• Theme #3: potential applications, collaborations and demonstration projects (65 Kb)

Tuesday, March 18

8:30 – 9:30: Modeling and Monitoring Recent and Future Hydroclimate – chair: Irene Hanuta

• Barrie Bonsal, Environment Canada: The drivers of hydroclimate variability in western Canada (1.8 Mb)
• Greg MacCulloch, Environment Canada: The Water Survey of Canada stream and lake gauging network (1.3 Mb)
• Suzan Lapp and Elaine Barrow, PARC: Scenarios of future hydroclimatic variability from global climate models (GCMs) (1.6 Mb)

9:30 – 12:00: Drought Strategy Session Sponsored by PFRA – chair: Bart Oegema

• Irene Hanuta, PFRA: Water and drought policy developments at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (1.7 Mb)
• Andy Davidson, PFRA: Using MODIS to monitor hydroclimate variability (1.2 Mb)
• Trevor Hadwen, PFRA: The North American Drought Monitor (5.8 Mb)
  
• Discussion: Providing input to the updated proposed Drought Framework for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

1:00 – 2:30: Reports from Break out Groups / Plenary Discussion of

• Reconciling paleo-hydroclimate records with GCM scenarios of future climate
• Potential for the operational use of the knowledge and records presented at the workshop, including institutional barriers and opportunities
• Possible collaborations between scientists and water managers and planners
• Derivative “value-added” products that move beyond data sharing
• Mechanisms (e.g., training sessions, research and demonstration projects) for applying the extended hydroclimate records to water management and planning in anticipation of further climate change

2:30 – 3:00: Summary and next steps

Pre-Workshop Reading Material

Please read the following documents prior to the workshop:

• Drying of the West: The American West was won by water management. What happens when there's no water left to manage? (Robert Kunzig, National Geographic Magazine-- February 2008)
• Drought, Tree Rings and Water Resource Management in Colorado (C.A. Woodhouse and J.J. Lukas) (900Kb)
• Paleoenvironmental Perspectives on Drought in Western Canada -- Introduction (Scott St. George and David Sauchyn) (1.5Mb)
• Proxy Streamflow Records for Water Planning In Western Canada (Sauchyn, Axelson and Beriault) (800Kb)
• Stationarity is Dead: Whither Water Management? (P.C.D. Milly, Science Vol.319, pp.573-574) (230Kb)