Partnership to create tools for local governments making groundwater use decisions.

Large areas of British Columbia are being more frequently affected by droughts and extreme rainfall. Drought does not just amplify wildfire risk, but can also affect the health of streams and aquatic life, hydroelectricity generation, agricultural production, and tourism. Deluges increase the risk of floods, mudslides, water contamination and other problems. Of particular concern is how climate extremes will alter the recharge of aquifers that sustain water flow in precarious low-flow summer months.

The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions is funding work to improve access to drought information for decision makers across B.C. Drought and Deluge: Informed Water Allocation Decision Making in a World of Intensifying Hydrologic Extremes, focuses on identifying impacts of drought and extreme rainfall on rivers, lakes, and streams across the Lower Mainland. The project is also developing water management tools that accounts for climate extremes.

Researchers: Diana Allen 

Collaborating Organizations: Simon Fraser University, B.C. Ministry of Land, Water, and Resource Stewardship, Metro Vancouver, City of Maple Ridge