Forest Hydrology

Water and Forests Evapotranspiration refers to a portion of the hydrologic cycle where water vapour enters the atmosphere. The primary process, evaporation, occurs when the sun heats oceans, rivers, lakes, […]

Drought in the 19th Century

Drought Figure 1: Drought in 19th Century Alberta  Early Accounts of Drought in the 1700s Drought occurred in present-day Alberta throughout the 1700s. Drought became so extreme in the 1790s […]

What is Drought?

In the simplest terms, drought is the absence of water over an extended period of time. There are different ways drought can occur, and for this reason, there are four […]

Property Rights

Governance Private property Across Canada and in Alberta, there is no single definition of property rights and no single law that defines them. In general, however, property rights assure property […]

Flood Mitigation: Upgrading Existing Infrastructure

Flood External Resources Presentations and Minutes from the BRBC Quarterly Forum on Flood Mitigation South Saskatchewan River Basin Snow Data What is upgrading existing infrastructure? Washed-away bridge and culvert. Photo […]

Flood Mitigation: Wetlands

Flood External Resources Presentations and Minutes from the BRBC Quarterly Forum on Flood Mitigation South Saskatchewan River Basin Snow Data What is a wetland? Wetland. Photo by Luke Hodde on […]

Flood Mitigation: Understanding Storm Water Flooding

Flood External Resources Presentations and Minutes from the BRBC Quarterly Forum on Flood Mitigation South Saskatchewan River Basin Snow Data What is storm water flooding? Flooded underpass in Toronto, 2013. […]

Groundwater Introduction

Groundwater in our province exists either as a comparatively younger, non-saline source – designated as any water possessing a mineralization less than 4,000 mg/L total dissolved solids (TDS) – or […]

Drought

Cracked mud surrounding a pool of water

Drought What is Drought? Canada is no stranger to severe weather. Canadians are well acquainted with flood, drought, fire, hail, and snow. This section explores causes, impacts, and mitigation methods […]

Water Sources

Photograph of snow-covered mountains and a lake.

This section is dedicated to providing science-based research to answer: where does all that water come from? Earth is a closed system, meaning the amount of water on Earth will […]