Promoting Effective Water Management |
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Hello <<First Name>>,
It's AGM Season at CWRA- another sign of a CWRA national conference swiftly approaching. Are you signed up for your provincial AGM yet? The CWRA National AGM will be held both in-person and virtually on June 7th, during CWRA2022 in Canmore- you will be able to join online if you can't be there in person. We have a list of AGMs already scheduled in the Events section below, and more will be posted on our events page shortly. Members, sign into the Members Page for more information and direct links to attend your AGMs.
While you're on the Members Page, look for the second phase of our Photo Contest- Member's Choice Awards! Winners of this round of awards will be announced at our national conference in Canmore. Log in, visit the photo websites, and vote for your favorite by June 1st!
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It's National Volunteer Week, and if we haven't said it lately- Thank you to all our incredible volunteers! Our volunteers make everything we do possible, if they don't do it themselves- from audits to webinars and everything in between.
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CWRA 2022
Registration for CWRA 2022 has been temporarily limited to accepted speakers.
Please note that we have temporarily limited registration so that accepted speakers have space to register. We will reopen remaining registration spaces, including Virtual Registration, Tours and Workshops, on May 4th, for 3 last days of early bird rates.
The full program will be posted by early next week for everyone to view online. Please continue to check our website for updates- everything will be posted there first!
We have been excited for the response, and we have appreciated your patience while our team finishes the details of the packed program for CWRA2022.
A few Sponsorship opportunities and Exhibitor spaces are still available!
Sponsorship and exhibitor details and benefits are available on our website. Additional details can be found within the Conference Prospectus. If you would like to become either a sponsor or exhibitor please email the conference planning committee at CWRA2022@cwra.org
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Upcoming AGM Dates
MB Branch: May 18 (virtual)
ON Branch: May 19 (virtual)
BC Branch: TBA
QC Branch: TBA
Atlantic Branch: TBA
AB Branch: June 6 (in-person at CWRA 2022 and virtual)
CANCID: June 6 (in-person at CWRA 2022 and virtual)
CSHS: June 7 (in-person at CWRA 2022 and virtual)
CWRA: June 7 (in-person at CWRA 2022 and virtual)
SYP National: June 8 (in-person at CWRA 2022 and virtual)
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From the Member Webinar Archives
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We've pulled out a double-header from CSHS this week- R Workshops! First up, “hydRology: Spatial Vector Processing with R” by Dan Moore, from December 2, 2020.
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Or you could head back to the beginning- have you seen our CSHS Classic, “HydRology: Introduction to R” by Robert Chlumsky, from May 15, 2019?
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Although Earth Day was last Friday, this version of the CWRA Bi-Weekly Paper Series is in honour of Earth Day and presents a sample of papers related to water security, agricultural production, and climate change. Koehnken et al. (2020) indicate why sand mining from rivers causes wide-ranging changes to the geomorphology, habitat, and biogeochemical cycles of riverine ecosystems. Obarein and Lee (2022) utilize novel signal processing to characterize changes in West African rainfall, and Obarein and Amanambu (2019) investigate changes to spatiotemporal rainfall patterns in Nigeria. Studying human aspects of water security, Dennis and Grady (2022) show why language is an important component of successful water management strategies, whereas Duke and McGrath (2022) provide an economic model related to nutrient flows, fertilizer and grain production.
Dennis LE, Grady CA. 2022. Watery research boundaries: A bibliometric and network science approach to explore gaps and overlaps in water research. Water Security 16: 100117 DOI: 10.1016/j.wasec.2022.100117
Understanding human dynamics of collaborations for water management: the importance of language and communication; natural language processing to create networks; topics, communities, variability, and the need for purposeful keywords when publishing papers.
Duke JM, McGrath JM. 2022. An agronomic‐economic approach to connect manure nutrients back to grain‐producing regions. Journal of Environmental Quality: jeq2.20329 DOI: 10.1002/jeq2.20329
Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), manure and ensuring efficient nutrient cycles: a graphical economic model; agricultural management practices and education needs; and case studies showing environmental and economic benefits.
Koehnken L, Rintoul MS, Goichot M, Tickner D, Loftus A, Acreman MC. 2020. Impacts of riverine sand mining on freshwater ecosystems: A review of the scientific evidence and guidance for future research. River Research and Applications 36 (3): 362–370 DOI: 10.1002/rra.3586
The biophysical impacts of sand mining from rivers: a review of direct and indirect impacts; a literature search using the Quick Scoping Review technique; and changes to vegetation, geomorphology, water quality, ecosystems, and habitat.
Obarein OA, Lee CC. 2022. Differential signal of change among multiple components of West African rainfall. Theoretical and Applied Climatology DOI: 10.1007/s00704-022-04052-1
Indicates how signal processing provides insights related to rainfall in West Africa: trend detection, statistical tests, and ENSO; latitudinal and annual variability; and regional environmental characterization for assessment of climate change.
Obarein OA, Amanambu AC. 2019. Rainfall timing: variation, characteristics, coherence, and interrelationships in Nigeria. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 137 (3–4): 2607–2621 DOI: 10.1007/s00704-018-2731-y
Time series characteristics of rainfall for Nigeria: onset, cessation, and relationships between timing and magnitude; spatial coherence and rainfall geographies; and mesoscale relationships related to climate, location, and seasonality.
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Calling all engineers! Got a project you're excited about? Got something you'd like to share? Drop us a line!
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Say hello to Brian Abrahamson
He's retired twice already, but we don't see any signs of him slowing down! His work leading our Financial Resiliency Committee has been invaluable to CWRA since the beginning of the pandemic. Thank you Brian!
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1. What do/did you do as a career? What do you like about it?
I have thoroughly enjoyed my more than 50-year association with water resources starting with the PFRA Hydrology Division in Regina in 1968. My career including 35 years with PFRA. During that time, I worked on floods, droughts, and water development projects on the Prairies and had the good fortune to partake in a two-year secondment on a CIDA sponsored flood forecasting project on the Cauca and Magdelena Rivers in Colombia, South America. This last involved relocating with my wife and young daughter to Bogota, Colombia with a stop in Mexico for language training.
Upon our return to Canada in 1980 I worked in water resource planning for several years and then in 1992 moved to Saskatoon to manage regional operations for that area.We returned to Regina in 1999 where I worked with some wonderful people to establish the National AgroClimate Information Service. I retired from PFRA at the end of 2003.
Upon retirement I took on some projects mostly in association with Water Resource Consultant’s based in Regina, as well as some contract work. This phase of my career took me to a broad range of activities ranging from a comparison of drought policy in Canada, Australia and the US, analysis of the 2010 flood at Maple Creek, updating Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) estimators for the Prairies and British Columbia, and the design and management of the Saskatchewan Emergency Flood Damage Reduction Program (EFDRP) from 2011 to 2018.
I retired from my consulting career in 2021 and keep active in water resources through the CWRA and other likeminded organizations.
Looking back my career touched a lot of interesting areas working with partners in various levels of government and the private sector.I saw the introduction of computer modelling to river systems, worked with various organizations such as the International Joint Commission, the Prairie Provinces Water Board, and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). In my final assignments got to work with provincial engineers and technicians, more than two dozen engineering consulting firms, and many municipalities, and First Nations on flood damage reduction projects.
2. When did you first join the CWRA?
I can’t remember exactly, somewhere in the early 70’s. I have a faint recollection of being instructed to represent PFRA at a CWRA meeting around that time.Also, I presented a paper to a conference in Saskatoon about that same time.
3. Why do you like being a part of the CWRA?
During my career it provide an opportunity for networking and learning. Upon retirement I like the opportunity to remain involved with water resources, seeing what others are doing, and talking with people who have similar interests. It is an exciting time to be involved with water resources.
4. What are you most excited for once we return to a pre-pandemic "normal"?
I look forward to travelling with family, going for coffee with old friends, and of course attending CWRA events in person.
5. Tell us something new you have learned about yourself since the beginning of the pandemic.
I have learned just how much I value interaction with others. Friends and family have always been important but now more than ever! I would not make a good hermit!
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This newsletter is being sent to you from alongside Garrison Creek, which now flows through a storm sewer to Lake Ontario, in the Great Lakes watershed. This land is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. It is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. It is part of Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.
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