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、和解和环境监测对所有加拿大人来说都是重要的议题，最近关于禁毒署、《巴黎协定》和加拿大影响评估机构的法律证明了这一点。“Koksilah连接”项目为解决水安全问题提供了一个具有高度社会影响的独特机会。该项目的成果将同时推进水文科学，促进社区参与，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)加深社区对水科学、土著知识动员和流域治理的参与；3)发展社区科学在改善水治理和土著和定居者政府之间共享管理方面的价值的合作愿景。该项目采用了一些新颖的策略，通过数据驱动、开放、透明和问责来解决这些问题。我们的团队和社区伙伴完全有能力在既得利益和殖民行为方面取得突破。当地合作伙伴参与了这一提议的发起、设计和设想，并将在项目中发挥积极作用，并提供工作人员时间的实物贡献。此外，项目结果将影响当地利益相关者以及省和国家的实施者。

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.