Workshop to enable the establishment of a National Research Network to assess the impacts of altered flow regimes in riverine ecosystems

加拿大许多地区都有或计划开发水力发电项目。必须审查新的和现有的水电作业，以减少其对水生生态系统的生态后果。然而，水生态系统的反应，改变流动制度，往往导致水电业务还没有得到很好的理解。然而，加拿大渔业和海洋部（DFO）的一个关键监管目标是一贯使用科学合理的鱼类和鱼类栖息地养护和保护做法。DFO的目标的成功实现需要不同的物理和生物过程的详细和协调的理解和科学和栖息地管理，学术界，其他监管机构和行业之间的生产和协作接口。需要有高度整合的团队，通过在协调框架内与工业界和其他利益攸关方建立伙伴关系，满足对复杂问题科学信息日益增长的需求。这项建议将直接推动建立一个国家研究网络，以便更好地了解水生生态系统对人类改变的水流状况的敏感性。本申请的目的是获得种子资金，以组织和主办一次研讨会，汇集学术界、工业界和政府的代表。 最终，这将使基于考虑问题的环境，社会，监管和商业方面的合理科学的流量调节的缓解方案的发展成为可能。(i.e.,（c）确保科学产品和交流为监管决策提供信息，促进开发认识到生态系统完整性和能源生产效率的现实的综合管理工具）。 此外，这次研讨会和网络将产生的协调研究将有助于使加拿大成为河流管理和可持续水电方面的世界领导者，从而使加拿大成为这一主题的知识和创新的主要来源。

Hydroelectric developments exist or are planned in many parts of Canada. New and existing hydroelectric operations must be reviewed with the goal of reducing their ecological consequences on aquatic ecosystems. However, the response of aquatic ecosystems to altered flow regimes that often results from hydroelectric operations is not well understood. Yet a key regulatory objective of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is the consistent use of scientifically sound fish and fish habitat conservation and protection practices. Successful achievement of DFO's objective requires detailed and coordinated understanding of diverse physical and biological processes and a productive and collaborative interface between science and habitat management, academia, other regulators, and industry. There is a need for well-integrated teams to deliver the increasing demand for scientific information on complex issues through partnership with industry and other stakeholders in a coordinated framework. This proposal will move directly towards creating a national research network that would permit a better understanding of the sensitivity of aquatic ecosystems to human-altered flow regimes. The purpose of this request is to obtain seed funding to organize and host a workshop to bring together representatives from academia, industry, and government.  Ultimately, this will enable the development of mitigative options for flow regulation based on sound science that consider the environmental, social, regulatory, and commercial aspects of the problem. (i.e., ensure that science products and communications inform regulatory decision-making in a manner that facilitates the development of integrated management tools that recognize the realities of both ecosystem integrity and energy generation efficiency).  Furthermore, coordinated research that would arise from this workshop and network will help to position Canada as a world leader in river stewardship and sustainable hydropower, thereby making Canada a key source of knowledge and innovation on this topic.