Climate Resilience Planning: Modelling Multi-Functional Reservoirs under Changing Climate****

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Strategic Community Consulting (SCC) is developing scalable and cost-effective solutions for efficient investments in climate resilience, in Western Canada. SCC has a major contract to evaluate the investment case for the $100M Treherne Dam project along the Boyne River system with features of both a conventional reservoir and a large engineered wetland. An engineered wetland site upstream of Treherne, Pelly's Lake, is recognized as a showcase multifunctional reservoir for flood and drought risk reduction, irrigation, water quality improvement, and biomass production with a benefit-cost estimated to range from 2.83 to 3.64. SCC needs a prototype multifunctional hydrological model of the Boyne River system to accurately evaluate the multifunctional, climate resilience, and overall system benefit of the Treherne Dam. This research will develop an integrated water management model of the system to simulate the interconnections between all system components, including Assiniboine and Boyne Rivers and Pelly's Lake, Treherne, and Stephenfield reservoirs and to evaluate and optimize the economic development benefits from irrigation water supply, flood and drought risk reduction and water quality improvements in the system. Tools developed in this research will include comprehensive models of this water system that can support optimization and design of the multifunctional retention storage for flood and drought risk mitigation needed for climate change adaptation. These tools will be transferred to SCC. Outcomes and models developed by this research are consistent with the best practice recommended by the Insurance Bureau of Canada and Infrastructure Canada and are needed for many other water-stressed agricultural regions and will be of interest for other Canadian technology firms as well.