Projects
Blue, Green and Virtual Water in the Okanagan Basin and the Lower Fraser Valley
This project is sponsored by the Gordon Foundation and BC Ministry of Agriculture & Land and determines the water required to produce different crops and convert the crops into products. It also attempts to produce a water balance for virtual water export and import into and out of a watershed in terms of imbedded water in food trade.
SWEL contact: Dr. Hans Schreier
Chlorine Biogeochemistry
Textbooks teach that chloride is conservative (inert) in soil. However, the past decade of research has revealed that that in addition to chloride (Cl-in), organic chlorine (Cl-org) is also ubiquitous in water, soil, and air. The terrestrial environment seems to be a key component in the overall chlorine cycling, functioning as both a source and sink of Cl-in and Cl-org substances. There is indisputable evidence that Cl-in is being transformed to Cl-org in the terrestrial environment (and vice versa), although the underlying processes are not fully understood. SWEL researchers study the chlorine cycle in close collaboration with colleagues at the universities in Linköping and Lund Sweden, Netherland’s Institute for Ecology and The Belgian Nuclear Research Centre. The work is conducted as both field and laboratory studies and presently focus mainly on three areas:
1. The relationship between the chlorine, carbon and water cycles
2. Ecological role of chlorine cycling in soil
3. Fate and turn-over kinetics of 36Cl from nuclear waste
SWEL contact: Dr. Gunilla Öberg
Cumulative Effects Assessment
This 4-year collaborative research project involves researchers from 6 Canadian Universities and has as its aim to develop cumulative effects indicators in watersheds. This involves the assessment of the interactions of multiple land use activities on water quality and aquatic biota. Sponsored by the Canadian Water Network (NCE).
SWEL contact: Dr. Hans Schreier
Cost-Effective Indicators of Soil Physical Conditions
This study addresses the need for more refined indicators on disturbed and undisturbed forest soils. The concept of relative bulk density-RBD (field bulk density/reference bulk density) may eliminate the need for determination of a single growth-limiting threshold for soils with varying properties. The overall objectives of this study are to (i) predict maximum bulk density and RBD based on the model developed by Drs. Krzic and Bulmer and their team for 8 long-term sites throughout BC and (ii) evaluate the relationships between tree growth and RBD. The long-term objective is to advance the conceptual understanding of the overall effects of soil compaction on tree growth.
SWEL contact: Dr. Maja Krzic
Ecohydrology and Carbon Cycling in Temperate and Tropical Watersheds
Carbon fluxes transported by water are a key linkage between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The methodological approach that we developed for real-time monitoring of aquatic fluxes of dissolved carbon dioxide and first tested in the Amazon rainforest (Johnson et al., 2008) has proven robust in a range of ecosystems from tropical to boreal regions. The field-based real-time monitoring of dissolved CO2 and other parameters is achieved using remotely-deployed environmental sensors. These measurements are complemented by routine and event-based sampling for the determination of additional fluvial carbon fractions including dissolved and particulate organic carbon (DOC and POC), dissolved inorganic carbon and greenhouse gases evading from water surfaces. This integrated approach permits a comparison of the hydrological export of terrestrial carbon with apparent carbon sequestration on the landscape, thus facilitating a robust determination of the net ecosystem carbon balance (sensu Chapin et al., 2006). We are conducting this work at a range of sites in North America and elsewhere in order to determine natural and anthropogenic controls on key ecohydrological processes. Overall, the goal of this project is to integrate research on aquatic and terrestrial components of the carbon cycle with the aim of developing more sustainable land use practices in view of climatic change.
Environmental Prediction in Canadian Cities
In the multi-institutional CFCAS network 'Environmental Prediction in Canadian Cities' (EPiCC) researchers from SWAL, UBC and partner institutions develop and incorporate an urban surface parameterization scheme in Canada's numerical weather and environmental forecasting system. This enhanced forecasting capability will contribute to the safety, health and well being of Canadians through better understanding of the dispersion of smog in urban environments, accidental and terrorist releases, heat stress and wind chill, and dispersion of air pollutants in urban environments. The research will also contribute knowledge to the better conservation of urban resources (energy and water utilities) and identify the most effective ways for Canadian cities to contribute to meeting our Greenhouse-gas reduction commitments.
As part of this network, SWAL researchers, students and technical staff run a validation field experiment in Vancouver and focus on the role of irrigation in the urban water, energy and carbon balance.
More information on the EPiCC network
SWAL contact: Dr. Andreas Christen
From Oz to Okanagan: Sustainable Water Governance in a Changing Climate
The Okanagan region of BC is on the global radar as one of Canada’s most vulnerable regions to climate change. With a projected population growth of 25% over the next 25 years, and full allocation of water licenses expected in the next 10-15 years, the Okanagan Basin has a serious problem. As climate change makes water supplies less consistent and demand steadily rises, a key question is how this community can sustain itself with limited water resources while still achieving a high quality of life, supporting local economic prosperity and maintaining a healthy watershed. SWEL researchers, in collaboration with partners from UBC-Okanagan, have developed a Community-University Research Alliance with the regional decision-making body, the Okanagan Basin Water Board and the Australian International Water Centre bringing together local water management knowledge and a broader academic perspective on water, climate change, and sustainability to explore these questions and generate new ideas and understandings of water management strategies. The aim of the project is to outline possible paths to confronting a water shortage and identify ways for the community to balance the needs of agriculture, industry, the public, and the ecosystem. The project builds relationships between key-actors in the ongoing water crisis in Australia and key-actors on the Okanagan, to nurture local adaptive capacity and support the development of sustainable water strategies in the Okanagan.
SWEL contact: Jacqueline Belzile and Dr. Gunilla Öberg
Health Indicators for Rough Fescue Grasslands
This project determined the effects of long-term cattle grazing on soil properties and vegetative characteristics of rough fescue grasslands within the Interior Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone in southern interior BC. Relationships among vegetation/soil indicators and health criteria for the fescue grassland ecosystems were also quantified. Study objectives are (1) to determine effects of long-term cattle grazing on soil properties and vegetative characteristics of rough fescue grasslands within the Interior Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone in southern interior BC; and (2) to quantify the relationships among grazing, vegetation, and soil indicators for the fescue grassland ecosystems of BC
More information about Health Indicators.
SWEL contact: Dr. Maja Krzic
Himalayan Andean Watershed Project
As water quality decreases and water scarcity increases we need to learn how to manage water resources more effectively. This is best done in a watershed context. Upon the completion of many watershed studies the above questions are frequently asked. The Himalayan-Andean Watershed Project was initiated to address some of these questions. IDRC sponsored watershed studies in different regions of the world has provided a valuable resource information base, however, comparison of this information and sharing of experiences have been lacking.
SWEL contact: Dr. Hans Schreier
Impact of the BC mountain pine beetle outbreak on carbon and water balances
This research project brings together atmospheric scientists, ecologists from Universities and the BC Ministry of Forests and Range to assess the impact of different forest management strategies following Mountain Pine Beetle attacks on lodgepole pine stands. The Biometeorology and Soil Physics Group of SWAL operates three eddy covariance towers in central British Columbia. Using multi-year eddy covariance measurements, SWAL researchers quantify carbon sequestration; water and energy partitioning; and stand microclimate under three different management strategies.
SWEL contacts: Dr. Andrew Black, Dr. Andreas Christen,
Innovative Stormwater Management in Canada (CWN & CMHC)
As a result of urban expansion, land use intensification, and increased climatic variability there is sufficient evidence that conventional urban stormwater management systems are no longer capable to deal effectively with flooding events and non-point sources of contamination. A team of the most knowledgeable Canadian researchers organized 3 national conferences and the results will be published in a special issue of the WQRJC in April 2009. This knowledge translation project is sponsored by the Canadian Water Network and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
More information about Innovative Stormwater Management.
SWEL contact: Dr. Hans Schreier
Non-Point Sources of Pollution in the Lower Fraser Valley
Long-term studies are being carried out in the Lower Fraser Valley on the impact of non-point sources of pollution from agriculture and urban development on water quality and the aquatic biota in 8 tributary watershed of the Fraser River. This includes the impact of excess nutrients, metal and pathogens on the stream systems.
More information about Non-point sources.
SWEL contact: Dr. Hans Schreier
UBC – A Living Laboratory: Energy and Water Project
In 2008, The University of British Columbia earned top grade among Canadian post-secondary institutions and third overall in the College Sustainability Report Card, released in December 2008 by the Sustainable Endowments Institute. Further raising the bar, UBC has declared that it aspires to be the first net-positive water and energy Campus. SWEL researchers are engaged in the wide-ranging programme ‘UBC – a Living Laboratory’ which aims to integrate not only water and energy management but also operations, teaching and research. The net-positive water and energy campus project is a cross-Faculty initiative that is conducted in collaboration with UBC’s Sustainability Office and UBC’s Land and Building Services