Columbia Basin Watershed Management

SGRC Lead Researcher: Ian Parfitt

SGRC Researchers: Ian Parfitt, Chris Gray, Paulo Travassos, Tracey Harvey

SGRC Interns: Owen Fritch, Cris Gray, Melissa Macleod, Jared Ozuk

Collaborating Agency:  Columbia Basin Trust Water Initiatives Program

Since 2005, the SGRC has been working closely with the Columbia Basin Trust's Water Initiatives Program to develop a number of geospatial applications, cartographic products and training opportunities for local watershed groups and Columbia Basin citizens. Some of the completed and ongoing research projects are described below: 

Columbia Basin Watershed Network Web Mapping Service

The first phase of this long-standing partnership was to build a web-based interactive mapping system for community-based to watershed management within the Columbia Basin.  This watershed information system was designed to benefit watershed networks, community groups, and citizens of the Columbia Basin, who can view, query, overlay relevant spatial layers and print maps at any scale all through a web browser and an Internet connection.  Today, this application has over 50 provincial and regional data layers complete with metadata, options to view the layers in Google Earth, importing GPS data and also includes thematic layer links for further information.  It has been used extensively in watershed management operations and planning as well as education and field navigation throughout the Canadian Columbia Basin.  To access the Columbia Basin Watershed Network web mapping service, click here.

Watershed Management Mapping and Analyses

Over the past three years, the SGRC has been working directly with a number of watershed groups associated with the Columbia Basin Watershed Network to produce GIS maps and analyses.  This work has allowed smaller conservation and community outreach groups with limited resources to gain geographic knowledge and understand the context of the watersheds they are working to sustain and enhance.  This work has empowered these groups to make effective management decisions, raise public awareness and aid in participartory processes invloving water resources.  Some of the many cartographic productions for various watershed groups are downloadable via PDF files from http://www.sgrc.selkirk.ca/cbt/cbwn/cbwn_geomatics.htm.  Note: some of these PDF files are large in size.      

Know Your Watershed - Geospatial Applications for Grade 8 Curriculum

In the summer of 2010, the SGRC created a number of geospatial applications for the Know Your Watershed grade 8 curriculum program developed and delivered in cooperation with the Wildsight education team and funded soley by the Columbia Basin Trust. KYW is a regionally-based water stewardship education initiative designed to teach participating students where their water comes from, how it is used in their community and where it goes after it is used. The products created included:

• Poster-size, large-scale maps for six different watersheds for hands-on collaborative learning
• Page size maps for students to use in class and reference 
• An interactive web-based map of the Columbia Basin and local watershed resouces
• Google Earth tours showing terrain fly-throughs of the local watersheds. 
• A video tutorial for the educators illustrating the applications and how to use them properly

The ability to provide rich geospatial tools in an interactive, technical delivery format along with traditional maps was very well received by both educators and the students and aided in an overwhelmingly successful delivery of the Know Your Watershed curriculum program in the fall of 2010.  There are plans to expand this to several more communities in the future and possibly expand the geospatial tools and capabilities to enhance the interaction and learning even further.

3D Visualizations of Dam Impacts

The SGRC is developing 3D visualizations for a number of areas impacted by the construction of dams and reservoirs resulting from the Columbia River Treaty. This project has involved georectifying historical orthophotos, creating digital elevation models of pre-dam landscapes and developing 3D visualizations illustrating the rising water levels in the reservoirs at the landscape level.  The final products will include narrative videos which will be used for educating the public about the historic changes and engage basin citizens in the dialogue for future treaty negotiations.