Towards resilient rural groundwater systems in a climate emergency

气候变化是我们这个时代最紧迫的问题之一。未来降水、温度和土地利用的变化将影响水的平衡，影响地下水的数量和质量。因此，我们需要了解如何调整用水和管理做法，以培育更具弹性的地下水系统，以确保供水的可持续性，并解决其他相关的关键问题，如加拿大的粮食安全。我的首要目标是为地下水系统的复原力开发基于数据的适应战略和方法。在接下来的五年里，我计划为各种用户群体和社区(农业地下水用户、私人和农村水井用户以及土著社区)制定适用于农村地下水系统的气候变化适应战略。我将利用基于自然的解决办法，研究农业部门地下水管理的潜在适应战略和方法。例如，我将调查：1)坑塘等现有做法如何影响水平衡和地下水系统，以及它们在干旱期间作为一种适应策略的可行性；2)增加地下水数量的新方法，如有管理的含水层补给。最终，我将开发一个工具包，农民可以使用它来学习保护地下水的策略。我将研究安大略省南部农村居民使用的私人和市政水井的洪水。我将收集现场数据，以开发一个地下水-地表水耦合模型，该模型可以揭示井水泛滥的机制，并为开发确保水安全的新方法提供信息。该模型还将用于开发集成地下水过程的实时洪水预报框架。在与土著社区的合作中，我将使用以科学为基础的方法和土著知识来开发基于社区的水监测项目的方法，以评估气候变化对地下水资源的影响。利用收集到的数据，我将制定框架，评估地下水和地下水-地表水相互作用系统对气候变化的脆弱性。在地下水背景下制定适应战略的研究不足，因此这项研究将产生重大影响。其成果将改善水安全、人类和生态系统健康，并将减少水的脆弱性和气候变化威胁的风险。制定和采用气候变化适应战略的经济效益是巨大的。据最近估计，加拿大在适应方面每投入一美元，就会产生大约5至6美元的收益。9名博士、硕士和本科生(以及土著社区的2名社区研究人员)将获得这一领域最新的科学培训，使他们成为了解和适应气候变化对地下水资源影响的领导者。

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time. Future changes in precipitation, temperature and land use will influence the water balance, affecting groundwater quantity and quality. Thus, we need to understand how we can adapt water use and management practices to foster more resilient groundwater systems to ensure water supply sustainability and to address other related critical issues such as food security in Canada. My overarching goal is to develop data-informed adaptation strategies and approaches for groundwater system resiliency. In the next five years, I plan to develop climate change adaptation strategies applicable for rural groundwater systems for various user groups and communities (agricultural groundwater users, private and rural well users, and Indigenous communities). I will study potential adaptation strategies and approaches for groundwater management in the agricultural sector using nature-based solutions. For example, I will investigate: 1) how existing practices such as dugout ponds impact the water balance and groundwater systems, and their viability as an adaptation strategy during droughts; and 2) new ways to increase groundwater quantity such as managed aquifer recharge. Ultimately, I will develop a toolkit that farmers can use to learn strategies to protect their groundwater. I will study flooding of private and municipal wells used by rural citizens in southern Ontario. I will collect field data to develop a coupled groundwater-surface water model that can shed light on the mechanisms of well flooding, and inform the development of new ways to ensure water security. The model will also be used to develop a real-time flood forecasting framework that integrates groundwater processes. In partnership with Indigenous communities, I will use science-based approaches and Indigenous knowledge to develop methodologies for community-based water monitoring programs that assess impacts of climate change on groundwater resources. Using the data collected, I will develop frameworks to assess vulnerability of groundwater and groundwater-surface water interacting systems to climate change. Developing adaptation strategies in a groundwater context is understudied, and thus this research is poised to make great impact. The results will improve water security, human and ecosystem health, and will reduce water vulnerability and risk of climate change threats. The economic benefits of developing and adopting climate change adaptation strategies is immense. It has recently been estimated that every dollar invested in adaptation in Canada generates about $5 to $6 in benefits. Nine trainees at the doctoral, Master's and undergraduate levels (as well as two community-based researchers in Indigenous communities), will gain valuable, state of the science training in this field, and poise them to be leaders in understanding and adapting to climate change impacts on groundwater resources.