The IJC and its boards joined scores of water experts and agency personnel at the annual Canadian Water Resources Association conference in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
The June 17-19 event included a keynote speech from Commissioner Sue Chiblow about her background and what brought her to the IJC. Chiblow also talked about the inclusive, transboundary work of the IJC and its boards, highlighting the International Souris River Board and International St. Mary and Milk Rivers Study Board in particular; both boards have responsibilities in Saskatchewan.
“The IJC is modernizing its approach to transboundary watershed management,” Chiblow said. “Our success depends on building relationships in transboundary watersheds, which provide a basis for understanding the issues and leveraging informed perspectives to prevent disputes before they become significant problems. This is water diplomacy at its best.”
IJC board presentations during the sessions included Mike Shantz, Canadian secretary of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management Committee (GLAM).
Shantz spoke about GLAM’s adaptive management framework and approach, and continually responding to changing conditions in the basin. This talk was designed to help inform similar adaptive management approaches being taken elsewhere in Canadian waters.
Nicole O’Brien, Canadian co-chair of the International St. Croix River Watershed Board, presented on decommissioning activities around the Milltown Dam and anticipated ecological impacts on fish passage and ecosystem health related to the ongoing project.
Additionally, researcher Tegan Holmes gave a presentation on an IJC-funded modeling study for the St. Mary and Milk rivers. The modeling uses isotopes to help identify natural water flows in the Milk River, an important component to how water is shared between Canada and the United States under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty.
Bruce Davison gave a talk regarding models used in the International St. Mary and Milk Rivers Study. Credit: IJC
Multiple presentations also focused on the IJC’s St. Mary and Milk Rivers Study Board.
Paul Coderre, a University of Calgary student, discussed a hydrological modeling project focused on the two rivers that will be applied to the study. This project is designed to use historical data and future climate projects to understand how natural flows have changed in the basin over time, and how they may change in the future.
Cheryl Miller, US co-lead of the study board’s Options Formulation and Evaluation Group (OFEG), followed with a presentation on the performance indicators used in the study. The talk focused on how the indicators will help the study board understand potential effects of changes to water apportionment, procedures currently in place (such as reservoirs and administrative agreements), and how these indicators can be used as a communication tool.
Finally, Bruce Davison, Canadian co-chair of the OFEG, spoke on how different models used in the study will relate to one another and continue to be maintained even after the study is concluded.
Kevin Bunch is a writer-communications specialist at the IJC’s US Section office in Washington, D.C.
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