Storage-yield dynamics of a rocky mountain valley

山区河流系统及其相关的山谷地下水水库和湿地供应地球六分之一以上人口和加拿大西部700多万人的用水需求。为了解决山区储存-产量动态的不确定性，需要进行新的观测，以确定水文过程和生物活动的特征，这些过程和生物活动决定着水从高海拔地区通过宽阔的山谷流向邻近的低地。在这些山谷中，水可以暂时储存在浅水层和/或湿地中，这些湿地主要由海狸创造或维持。在这项研究计划中，将测量浅谷含水层和山谷湿地的蓄水量变化的幅度和速度。此外，还将综合使用水文、水化学和同位素方法，评估山谷含水层与河流的水文连通性。海狸对流经山谷的水流路径的影响将进行实地测量。所有观测都将在位于阿尔伯塔卡纳纳斯基斯县的锡巴尔德湖研究盆地进行。该流域的水流入弓河，然后流入南萨斯喀彻温河，为农业、工业和城市提供重要的用水。利用这一设备进行的观测将提供一个更好的科学基础，综合河流-地下水-湿地的相互作用，并结合生物活动（如海狸）的影响，以满足山区当前和未来水资源管理和水文建模的挑战。

Mountain riverine systems and their associated valley groundwater reservoirs and wetlands supply the water demands of over one-sixth of the earth's population and over seven million people in western Canada. To address uncertainties in storage-yield dynamics in mountain regions, new observations are needed that characterize the hydrologic processes and biological activities govern the routing of water from higher elevation areas to neighbouring lowlands through wide valleys. In these valleys, water can be temporarily stored in shallow aquifers and/or in wetlands that are mostly created or maintained by beaver. The magnitude and rate of change in storage of shallow valley aquifers and valley wetlands will be measured in this research programme. Also, the hydrologic connectivity of the valley aquifer to the stream will be assessed through using a combination of hydrometric, hydrochemical and isotopic methods. Field-based measurements of the effect of beaver on flow routing through the valley will be made. All observations will take place in the Sibbald Lake Research Basin, located in Kananaskis Country, Alberta. Water from this basin drains into the Bow River and then to the South Saskatchewan River, which provides critical water for agricultural, industrial, and urban use. The observations made with this equipment will provide an improved science base that integrates stream-groundwater-wetland interactions and incorporates effects of biological activities (e.g. beaver) necessary to meet current and future water resource management and hydrologic modeling challenges in mountain regions.