The 10 June 2011 edition of Canmore’s Rocky Mountain Outlook newspaper included an overview of the extreme variability in snowpack and melt behaviour observed in Marmot Creek and other sites through the Alberta Rockies this spring: the article is available here.
The same edition also profiled the PUB2011-P3 workshop held in May (here).

Congratulations to CH MSc student Chris Marsh, who has been awarded the D.M.Gray Award for Best Student Paper in Hydrology at the Canadian Geophysical Union this year, for his paper and talk Implication of mountain shading and topographic scaling on energy for snowmelt.
There was a large number of applicants and the papers and presentations were very strong, so this is a particularly significant feedback to Chris. CH Director Prof John Pomeroy comments “I am sure that Don Gray would be very happy with this”.
The paper is available for download here.

Canmore newspaper the ‘Rocky Mountain Outlook‘ has published a profile of the Centre for Hydrology’s ‘Principles of Hydrology‘ course, GEOG_827, held at the Coldwater Centre in early March.
The article is available here.

In the course of his presentation entitled Water Security and the Perfect Storm on United Nations World Water Day, March 22nd, Canada Excellence Research Chair Professor Howard Wheater announced the establishment of a new Global Institute for Water Security, to be based at the University of Saskatchewan.
Full details are available here

Two hydrology-related presentations from the University of Saskatchewan’s Water Week are now available for online viewing:
Water Security and the Perfect Storm by Professor Howard Wheater, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Water Security

Climate Uncertainty: What it Means for Water Planning and Policy – recent results from Saskatchewan and Arizona by Professor John Pomeroy, Canada Research Chair in Water Resources and Climate Change, and Professor Patricia Gober, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy

March 25th – The Saskatoon Star Phoenix published an article highlighting planning by Professors John Pomeroy and Howard Wheater for a major Prairie research project this spring.
With near-record snowpacks persisting later than usual this year throughout much of the West, it’s envisaged that the imminent melt season may well provide a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to observe and document a runoff – and potentially flood – event of the scale currently thought to be likely.
The article is available here.

MSc student Ross Phillips of the Centre for Hydrology, supervised by Prof John Pomeroy and Dr Chris Spence, has received approval for his Master’s thesis on ‘Connectivity and runoff dynamics in heterogeneous drainage basins’.
Ross’s thesis was based largely on fieldwork in the Baker Creek research basin, in the Northwest Territories, and contributed to the findings of the IP3 network.
Details of the thesis are available here.

The CGU is pleased to announce a new sholarship for Ph.D. stduents, “Donald Gray Scholarship in Canadian Hydrology”. The scholarship was made possible by generous donation by the family of the late Don Gray, a recipient of the CGU J. Tuzo Wilson Medal (please see the attachment). The scholarship is open to all Canadian students, not just to CGU members. The deadline for 2010 application is May 15.

Download full description here.

Students and professionals converged in Kananaskis Country last week to participate in an intensive course on the physical principles of hydrology – the first of its kind in four decades.
Hydrology is the scientific study of the properties, distribution and circulation of water on earth – on the surface, below ground and in the atmosphere.
Taking place at the University of Calgary’s Biogeoscience Institute Barrier Lake Station, the course was hosted by the University of Saskatchewan’s Centre for Hydrology in partnership with the Canadian Society for Hydrological Sciences.
Running March 2-11, the for-credit course drew 40 grad students from the universities of Lethbridge, Regina, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and B.C.’s Simon Fraser, as well as professionals working as environmental assessment specialists, design engineers, environmental technicians, hydrometric technicians, water resource managers, streamflow forecasters and hydrogeologists with employers including Ducks Unlimited, Alberta Environment, Environment Canada and Syncrude.
The jam-packed agenda included full-day classroom sessions covering topics such as the fundamentals and physical principles of hydrology, precipitation and snow hydrology, the hydrology of glaciers, wetlands and groundwater, interception and evapotranspiration, infiltration and soil water, river networks, river hydraulics and ice.

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Canada has vast reserves of water – yet only 7% of the world’s renewable supply. Water is of critical economic and strategic importance—a resource, a commodity and an essential element in health, agriculture, energy, urban, commercial and industrial development. What is happening to our water resources? What have we learned about changing water conditions across Canada over the last few years—and what questions remain? The Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences and Environment Canada invite you to find out.
Since 2000, the Foundation has invested $14.4 million in water related research. The workshop will look at what has emerged from this work and its relevance to safety, security, ecosystems, health and economic development. The Symposium will provide a forum on water security for policy and decision makers, in cooperation with researchers.

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