CH Director Prof. John Pomeroy has again been asked to contribute information to the continuing – and understandable – concern in the Bow Valley about this Spring’s above-average spring snowpack in the Rockies:

Calgary Herald, 29th May 2014
– Alarm raised over flood mitigation work near Canmore

Global News, 15th May 2014
– Flood risks from melting snow pack ‘enough to be concerned about’

CBC Calgary, 12th May 2014
– Experts watch mountain snowpack for flood warning signs

Calgary Herald, 6th May 2014
– UPDATE: Experts say building dams and diversion channels not the best way to deal with floods
– Canmore keeping close eye on water levels after rain and snow

Calgary Herald, 5th May 2014
– Nature the answer to managing floods

CBC’s The National interviewed Professor John Pomeroy at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Geophysical Union, to respond to the US Government report on Climate Change Impacts in the United States, which was released by President Obama on May 6^th. The segment is available for online viewing here.

Dr Pomeroy noted that the impacts of climate change were evident in Canada, with a substantial increase in Canadian Prairie streamflow and rainfall duration associated with recent flooding in the Prairies.

These results were presented by Stacey Dumanski to the CGU on Monday, May 5^th.

Current Centre for Hydrology Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Nicholas Kinar won one of four University of Saskatchewan Graduate Thesis Awards (PhD) awarded this year for his thesis: Acoustic Measurement of Snow.

Current Centre for Hydrology PhD student Phillip Harder won one of five University of Saskatchewan Graduate Thesis Awards (MSc) awarded this year for his thesis: Precipitation Phase Partitioning with a Psychrometric Energy Balance: Model Development and Application.

Congratulations to both Dr Kinar and Mr Harder for exceptional research excellence.

The Calgary Herald has published an article about the possibility of flooding in southern Alberta, prompted in part by recent rain and snow falling over a relatively high spring snowpack in the Rockies.

The piece, which quotes Prof. John Pomeroy’s current thoughts on the topic, is available in PDF format here, or from this URL.

The Canadian Foundation for Innovation has published an article in its web magazine about the Canadian Rockies Hydrological Observatory (CRHO), which is being established by CH scientists in the Upper Bow and Kananaskis watersheds, Alberta.

The piece is available here
(http://www.innovation.ca/en/ResearchInAction/OutcomeStory/Floodwatcher).

CH’s Dr Cherie Westbrook writes –

I am very pleased to report that it was just announced that Jason Mercer has won a 2014 SWS Student Research Grant from the Society of Wetland Scientists to help fund his MSc work on resiliency of alpine wetlands to environmental change in the Rockies. These grants are extremely competitive, and only rarely is a student at a Canadian institution awarded one.

Congratulations Jason!

With snowpack above normal in some parts of the Canadian Rockies and a cold April slowing melt so far, Prof. John Pomeroy has been interviewed by several media outlets on the scientific basis of the 2013 flood and the level of preparedness and prospects for flooding in the future.

The articles are available in PDF format from the following links:

• Alberta Views, April 2014
• Calgary Herald, 8th April 2014
• 660 News Radio, 8th April 2014
• CTV Alberta PrimeTime, 15th April 2014

CH Director Prof. John Pomeroy was interviewed this week by CBC Radio about the potential impacts of climate-change, following initial release of the Contribution of Working Group 2 to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change‘s Fifth Assessment Report, which focuses on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.

The interview is available here: Blue Sky (31st March)

CH’s Dr Cherie Westbrook has been interviewed by the Calgary Herald about her work with beaver ecohydrology in the Sibbald Lake area of Kananaskis Country, Alberta. The article highlights how beavers contribute to the creation and maintenance of wetlands, and provide a valuable form of natural flood resilience.

The article is available in PDF form here.

Glaciers in the Canadian Rockies continue to retreat as the climate warms, despite recent high snowpack years and even historic wet conditions leading to floods.

An article in the Calgary Herald has reported on the results of studies of these glaciers and their hydrology by Shawn Marshall of the University of Calgary, Mike Demuth (Natural Resources Canada, Centre for Hydrology member), and John Pomeroy (Centre for Hydrology Director). It also includes discussion of the water resource implications by Robert Sandford (another member of the Centre for Hydrology).

The article is available in PDF form here.