Hydrological Sustainability

水文可持续性

• 批准号: CRC-2021-00481
• 负责人: Ketcheson, Scott
• 金额: $ 1.82万
• 依托单位: Athabasca University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Canada Research Chairs
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=753445
• 关键词: Hydrological; Sustainability

Headwaters, which represent the inception point of streams, are vital regions within any catchment owing to their important role as source-areas of freshwater generation. Wetlands located within these headwaters contribute to increased water availability for receiving ecosystems and larger streams and rivers. The Athabasca River, one of North America's longest and largest free-flowing rivers, drains vast areas of the Canadian Boreal Plain. Wetlands occupy over half of this landscape, where resource exploration and development disturbances are abundant. Processes that control water release (runoff) from any headwater catchment are vital factors in the function, sensitivity, and vulnerability of ecosystems to human and climate-induced environmental change. Understanding and assessing ecosystem health, drinking water quality, and water-related risks such as flooding, wildfire, and industrial development requires a comprehensive understanding of the water environment.The research program of the Chair in Hydrological Sustainability builds on Dr. Ketcheson's expertise in freshwater generation, with the goal to advance ecosystem sustainability through understanding hydrological processes, working across a disturbance spectrum from natural to reconstructed landscapes. The proposed research program will: 1) resolve the importance of wetlands and headwater catchment reaches for water generation in the lower Athabasca River Basin; 2) investigate the role of disturbance on hydrological sustainability and freshwater availability in the Boreal Plain; and 3) develop and optimize efficient, industry relevant management and reclamation practices in the Alberta oil sands.The field-based approach utilized involves interpretation of water exchanges among ecosystems in relation to streamflow and catchment response to disturbance. The Chair's innovative headwater catchment observatory combined with new research sites will be studied to evaluate the impacts, risk, and susceptibility of headwater catchments and their ecosystems to natural, human, and climate-mediated disturbances. At the regional scale, results will inform watercourse management decisions through surface water and aquatic health monitoring programs. Knowledge generated by the Chair also has broader implications and applicability beyond the Athabasca River Basin. Determining processes that control runoff is key to managing water availability in catchments and ecosystems throughout North America and abroad.

水源是河流的起点，是任何集水区的重要区域，因为它们是淡水产生的重要来源。位于这些源头内的湿地有助于增加接收生态系统和较大的溪流和河流的水可用性。阿萨巴斯卡河是北美最长、最大的自由流动河流之一，流经加拿大北方平原的大片地区。湿地占该景观的一半以上，资源勘探和开发干扰丰富。控制水源释放（径流）的过程是影响生态系统对人类和气候引起的环境变化的功能、敏感性和脆弱性的重要因素。理解和评估生态系统健康、饮用水质量以及与水有关的风险，如洪水、野火和工业发展，需要对水环境有全面的了解。水文可持续性主席的研究计划建立在Ketcheson博士在淡水生成方面的专业知识基础上，其目标是通过了解水文过程来推进生态系统的可持续性，从自然到重建景观的干扰谱。拟建的研究项目将：1)确定阿萨巴斯卡河流域下游湿地和水源集水区的重要性；2)研究扰动对北方平原水文可持续性和淡水可得性的影响；3)开发和优化阿尔伯塔省油砂的高效、与行业相关的管理和回收实践。所采用的基于实地的方法涉及解释与溪流流量和集水区对干扰的反应有关的生态系统之间的水交换。将研究主席的创新水源集水区观测站与新的研究地点相结合，以评估水源集水区及其生态系统对自然、人类和气候介导的干扰的影响、风险和易感性。在区域范围内，结果将通过地表水和水生健康监测项目为水道管理决策提供信息。主席产生的知识还具有更广泛的影响和适用性，超出了阿萨巴斯卡河流域。确定控制径流的过程是管理整个北美和国外集水区和生态系统中可用水量的关键。