These projects have been categorized by CWN’s main research themes, but many are multi-thematic and multidisciplinary studies, involving investigators and expertise across disciplines.

Protecting watersheds and ecosystems

The watershed is the source of water for the people who live, work and play around its natural borders. However, demands from each of these users often conflict on how the watershed should be used and treated, making its protection and stewardship difficult to manage.

CWN’s Protecting Watersheds and Ecosystems Program focuses on developing watershed management practices that integrate land use with water quantity, quality, demand, supply and equity for both human and environmental use. CWN has built a network of experts who investigate the environmental and social aspects of watersheds when solving existing and emerging water issues.

This research program has two objectives.

Objective A — Increased adoption of risk-based cumulative effects frameworks that recognize changing land uses and water availability and help balance multiple water uses in watersheds across Canada

Objective B — Improved source water protection and water allocation in watersheds across Canada through the application of improved practices, technologies, monitoring and governance

• A basin approach to groundwater recharge in the Okanagan: Bridging the gap between science and policy, led by Dr. Diana Allen
• Assessing the risk of pharmaceuticals in the Canadian environment, led by Dr. Chris Metcalfe
• Biofouling of wells and pathogen transport in fractured rock aquifers, led by Dr. Brent Sleep
• Enhancing water security in Canada, led by Dr. Rob de Loë
• Holistic assessment of the factors important for the maintenance and restoration of rivers in agricultural watersheds, led by Dr. Michel Robin
• Human impacts on water quantity and quality, the implications for socio-economic processes, and policy development in the South Saskatchewan River basin, led by Dr. Leland Jackson
• Options and innovations for non-point sources of pollution prevention and water resources management in the Lower Fraser Valley, led by Dr. Hans Schreier
• Surface and groundwater management in the oil sand industry, led by Dr. George Dixon
• The development of a framework for assimilative capacity of the Saint John River, led by Dr. Kelly Munkittrick

Protecting public health

Safe, clean water is fundamental for human health. Yet events such as the tragedies in Walkerton, Ontario, North Battleford, Saskatchewan and in many First Nations communities demonstrate that Canadians are vulnerable to chemical and biological contaminants in source waters.

CWN’s Protecting Public Health Program is providing regulatory agencies with research-based information and effective management and technical tools to identify and reduce threats to drinking water supplies. Through multidisciplinary collaboration we are bringing together water practitioners, policy-makers and researchers who are actively pursuing innovative solutions to Canada’s public health problems.

This research program has two objectives.

Objective A — Reduced risks associated with waterborne pathogens and contaminants in communities across Canada, including small and remote communities, resulting in reduced health consequences and public expenditures

Objective B — Improved risk assessment models that balance risk, cost and societal benefits that incorporate both pathogens and chemical risks, supporting decision-making across Canada within a multi-barrier approach

• Assessment of regional water resource impacts from agriculture: a performance-based approach to evaluating risk, alternative practices and economic implications, led by Dr. David Rudolph
• Arsenic in drinking water – speciation, human exposure and health effects, led by Dr. X. Chris Le
• Assessment of health risks associated with viruses in groundwater supplies, led by Dr. Pierre Payment
• Examining the relationship between community health data and pathogen occurrences in two geographically distinct watersheds, led by Dr. Peter Huck
• Integrated disinfection strategies optimization project, led by Dr. Ron Hofmann
• Novel characterization of new disinfection by-products and health risks, led by Dr. Xing-Fang Li
• Tapping into consumers’ perceptions of health risks in municipal water supplies, led by Dr. Diane Dupont

Ensuring sustainable water infrastructure

Canada’s underground water infrastructure is nearing the end of its functional life. As a result there are continual watermain breaks and leaks. Each leak is not only costly to repair but it also potentially exposes drinking water to contamination.

Updating Canada’s water infrastructure is essential to maintaining the sustainability of Canada’s water supplies. CWN’s Ensuring Sustainable Water Infrastructure Program is developing a clear research framework to make this happen. CWN is developing innovative technologies and management strategies to overcome both the financial and technical challenges to making our water infrastructure sustainable.

This research program has two broad objectives.

Objective A — Implementation of improved and expanded treatment technology and management options that enhance reliability and performance of water and wastewater systems, including those in small and remote communities

Objective B — Reduced costs to operate and maintain water infrastructure through innovative technologies and approaches that ensure balance among costs and risks to humans and the environment

• Advanced water supply management for rural distribution systems, led by Dr. Saeid Habibi
• Arsenic technologies for drinking and industrial water treatment, led by Dr. Graham Gagnon
• Case studies in climate change impacts and economic adaptation for water infrastructure: Victoria, Fraser River basin, Niagara and Montréal, led by Dr. Mohammed Dore
• Development of an underground wastewater collection network asset database and management framework, led by Dr. Mark Knight
• Development of treatment technology for rural wastewater management, led by Dr. Robert Gordon
• Protecting the integrity of drinking water distribution systems, led by Dr. Michèle Prévost