Across the transboundary region shared between Canada, the United States and many Indigenous Nations, water resource management experts are reporting increasing pressures on hydrological systems driven by climate change. Increasing instances and duration of extreme weather events are leading to substantial changes to water levels and flows, and water quality in lakes and rivers along the boundary.
To better understand these issues, the International Joint Commission (IJC) hosted a panel and workshop to discuss collaborative transboundary watershed management under the pressures of a changing climate in North America.
The event was held in Ottawa, Ontario, as part of the IJC’s Fall Semi-Annual Meeting, which brings together water experts from across the IJC’s boards and committees operating along the transboundary shared between the U.S. and Canada. The event was open to all IJC board and committee members, board associates and IJC staff.
The workshop highlighted the need for enhanced information sharing between water managers, innovative methods of science communication, and continued support for tools and data to help water managers adapt their strategies for managing water systems.
The IJC invited an expert panel to speak about how IJC boards are observing climatic changes in their watersheds and preparing for possible future climate scenarios. The panel included representatives of IJC boards as well as experts from academia and governments agencies.
Panelists raised a plethora of examples of how climate change is impacting their work in transboundary basins such as changing flow regimes, changes in frequency and severity of droughts and floods, changes in frequency and duration of ice cover and ice jams, and a variety of water quality impacts.
The panel also raised the issue of resistance to the idea that climate change is driving these growing challenges, instead of weather anomalies or mismanagement of water resources. Finding ways to effectively communicate what IJC boards are learning about climate trends is essential.
The panel discussion was followed by a breakout discussion among participants to share examples of how boards are observing and addressing climate change pressures in their respective basins. Participants shared successes and challenges of adapting or preparing for more extreme weather patterns. They also discussed the utility of establishing an online IJC Climate Hub as a mechanism to continually share information between the IJC boards.
A central tenet of the IJC’s response to climate change is to support its boards in adaptive management. Through its International Watersheds Initiative (IWI) the IJC helps boards model how climate change is affecting water regimes in their basins. Understanding climate trends is foundational to updating or developing new plans for managing hydrologic systems.
IJC Canadian Co-Chair Pierre Baril and US Co-Chair Gerald Acker attended the workshop and shared some of their own perspectives on the issue of addressing climate change.
Baril, left, speaks to workshop attendees, with Acker, at right. Credit: IJC
“Each transboundary watershed faces unique challenges imposed or worsened by climate change,” Baril said. “It is an important role of the IJC to bring water resource managers together to exchange ideas, share their experiences and discuss potential solutions to these challenges. We know that our board members value this opportunity to meet and share ideas too.”
Acker added: “From more intense flood and drought, to increasing occurrences of algal blooms and other ecosystem health issues, we are hearing that our boards are increasingly strained. Achieving the Commission’s mandate in the face of increasing climate change impacts necessitates an intensified and holistic watershed approach in Canada-United States transboundary watersheds.”
The IJC will continue to provide opportunities for water managers to share information and discuss best practices to managing water in their respective basins. The IJC also will continue to encourage and support boards in adapting approaches to watershed management in the face of increasing climatic stressors.
Panelists at the workshop included:
- Bruce Davison, head of the Boundary Waters Engineering Unit for the North & West regions for the National Hydrological Service at Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Canadian co-chair of the International Souris River Board
- Sarah Dunn, public affairs specialist with the US Geological Survey – Washington Science Center and US secretary to the International Columbia River Board of Control and International Osoyoos Board of Control
- Chanel Mueller, climate change expert and hydraulic engineer with the US Army Corps of Engineers
- Teika Newton, international watershed coordinator for the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation, and Canadian secretary for the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board’s Adaptive Management Committee.
- Martin Suchy, water resource scientist with National Hydrological Service at Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Canadian secretary to the International Columbia River Board of Control, International Osoyoos Lake Board of Control and International Kootenay Lake Board of Control
- Joel Trubilowicz, hydrologist with the National Hydrological Service at Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Canadian co-chair of the International Columbia River Board of Control and International Kootenay Lake Board of Control.
Christina Chiasson is a policy analyst for the Canadian Section of the IJC in Ottawa, Ontario.
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