Koksilah Connections: community-engaged stream monitoring and groundwater modeling for water sustainability planning

加拿大正处于自然资源管理和与土著人民和解的前所未有的十字路口。水资源、气候变化、和解和环境监测是所有加拿大人的重要议题，最近关于《联合国土著人民权利宣言》、《巴黎协定》和加拿大影响评估机构的法律就是证明。“Koksilah连接”项目是一个独特的机会，具有高度的社会影响，旨在解决水安全问题。该项目的成果将同时推进水文科学，吸引社区参与，并支持切实的治理变革。影响有三个方面：1）通过社区参与的监测和建模，提高了对当前和未来夏季河流流量的理解; 2）加深了社区对水科学、土著知识动员和流域治理的参与; 3）发展了社区科学在改善水治理和土著与定居者政府之间共享管理方面的价值的合作愿景。该项目有许多新颖的策略，通过数据驱动、开放、透明和负责任的方式来解决这些问题。我们的团队和社区合作伙伴处于有利地位，可以在既得利益和殖民做法方面取得突破。当地合作伙伴参与了这一提案的发起、设计和构想，并将通过工作人员时间的实物捐助在项目中发挥积极作用。此外，项目成果将影响到地方利益攸关方以及省级和国家级执行者。

Canada is at an unprecedented crossroads of natural resource management and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Water resources, climate change, reconciliation and environmental monitoring are important topics to all Canadians as evidenced by recent laws regarding UNDRIP, the Paris Agreement and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. The 'Koksilah Connections' project represents a unique opportunity with high societal impact aimed at addressing water security. Outcomes from this project will simultaneously advance hydrologic science, engage communities, and support tangible governance changes. The impacts are three-fold: 1) improved understanding of current and future summer river flows through community engaged monitoring and modeling; 2) deeper community engagement with water science, Indigenous knowledge mobilization and watershed governance; and 3) development of a collaborative vision of the value of community science in improving water governance and shared management between Indigenous and Settler governments. This project has a number of novel strategies that address these issues by being data-driven, open, transparent and accountable. Our team and community partners are well situated to make breakthroughs in vested interests and colonial practices. Local partners have been involved in the initiation, design and envisioning of this proposal, and will play an active role in the project with in-kind contributions of staff time. In addition, project results will impact local stakeholders and provincial and national implementers.