Water, sediment and nutrient connectivity in engineered Prairie landscapes

加拿大人认为，水是他们最重要的自然资源，并担心目前的管理制度不足以保护环境。在大草原地区尤其如此，在那里，洪水、干旱和农业污染扩散是造成社会和经济代价的最大环境问题。我们处理优质水过剩和短缺的能力取决于我们对径流、沉积物和营养物质可能离开我们的土地并进入溪流、河流和湖泊的时间和地点的理解。连通性的概念是为了帮助量化这种可能性，但它还没有在高度影响，农业草原景观充分探讨。拟议的研究计划将有助于填补这一空白，解决四个问题：1）连接是由一个主导的流动过程或多个控制？2)连接启动和终止的时间和空间阈值是什么？3)如何管理雨水控制结构对自然连通性的增强或破坏作用？以及4）连接性预测框架应包括哪些基本要素？这项研究将在马尼托巴的多个研究地点进行，以确保考虑到各种各样的草原景观。将使用最先进的水文测量仪器和高端水质监测设备来监测水、沉积物和营养物的流动。实地数据将在不同地点进行综合，以研究自然地理、空间尺度或雨水控制结构（如瓦片和沟渠网络、湿地排水系统或农场水坝）对连通性的影响。实地数据还将用于为水文模型开发和参数化提供信息。这项研究将提高我们对严重修改景观的流域动态的理解，并为培训草原水文学的新科学家提供一个独特的机会。其成果将通过指导水管理系统的发展，减少洪水风险、沉积物和营养物污染，最终使加拿大西部社区受益。

Canadians believe that water is their most important natural resource and worry that current management systems are not adequate for environmental protection. This is especially true in Prairie regions where floods, droughts and diffuse agricultural pollution are the greatest environmental issues in terms of social and economic costs. Our ability to deal with excesses and shortages of quality water rests on our understanding of when and where runoff, sediments and nutrients are likely to leave our lands and reach streams, rivers and lakes. The concept of connectivity is meant to help quantify this likelikood but it has not been fully explored in highly impacted, agricultural Prairie landscapes. The proposed research program will contribute to filling that gap by addressing four questions: 1) Is connectivity controlled by one dominant flow process or many?, 2) What are the temporal and spatial thresholds of connectivity initiation and cessation?, 3) How to manage the enhancing or disruptive effect of stormwater-control structures on natural connectivity?, and 4) Which essential elements should be included in connectivity prediction frameworks? The research will be done at multiple study sites in Manitoba to ensure that a good variety of Prairie landscapes is considered. State-of-the-art hydrometric instruments and high-end water quality monitoring devices will be used to monitor water, sediment and nutrient movement. The field data will be synthesized across sites to examine the effects of physiography, spatial scale or stormwater-control structures such as tile and ditch networks, wetland drainage systems or farm dams, on connectivity. Field data will also be used to inform hydrological model development and parameterization. This research will improve our understanding of watershed dynamics in heavily modified landscapes and provide a unique opportunity to train new scientists in Prairie hydrology. Its outcomes will ultimately benefit Western Canadian communities by guiding the development of water management systems toward reduced flood risk and sediment and nutrient contamination.