Canada Water Act annual report for 2018 to 2019: chapter 3

3 Research

3.1 Research on the impacts of climate change on aquatic systems

In 2018-2019, ECCC undertook a number of activities to quantify and predict local, regional, and national sensitivities of hydrological regimes and aquatic ecosystems to climate change, including:

• The production of Canada’s first comprehensive report on Canada’s Changing Climate covering: changes in temperature, precipitation and related extremes across Canada; changes in snow, ice and permafrost; changes in freshwater availability; and, changes in oceans surrounding Canada.
• The compilation of a river-ice data set from hydrometric archives that can be used to identify several river-ice event timing and magnitude-related variables including those associated with fall freeze-up, winter low flow, mid-winter break-up, maximum annual ice thickness, and spring break-up.
• The collection of data to assist in the development of next generation climate‑permafrost-hydrology models.
• The collaboration with universities, provincial and territorial agencies to build components of a Pan-Canadian network capable of determining the impacts of permafrost thawing on water resources.
• The assessment of river-ice break-up and ice-jam characteristics in the Peace‑Athabasca Delta.
• The assessment of the sediment and water quality characteristics in the Lower Athabasca River.
• The examination of the linkage between terrestrial flow pathways and sediment sources with changes in moisture content or condition (permafrost thaw, rainfall).
• The research at the Baker Creek Research Catchment to evaluate the impact of permafrost degradation on water cycling and chemistry in the subarctic Canadian Shield.
• The assessment of the climate variability and change on prairie wetlands and hydrology including resultant impacts on the water quality in the Prairie’s watershed.
• The assessment of the vulnerability of Western Canadian watersheds reliant on water from mountain headwaters to increasing drought risk and diminishing snow packs, in collaboration with international and national academic organizations.