UPCOMING WORKSHOP – MPB Impacts on Watershed Hydrology

The Fraser Basin Council will be hosting a workshop entitled Fostering Collaborative Responses to Hydrological Changes in the Nicola Watershed.  The dates are March 30 and 31, 2011 and the location is the Merritt Civic Centre, Merritt BC.

TOPIC AREAS

What are researchers finding out about hydrological changes caused by the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation in the Nicola or similar watersheds?  What are the real-world impacts that we will be, and already are dealing with?  How will we collaborate to respond to, and minimize these impacts?

WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES

• Increase level of knowledge about the science-based hydrological impacts of Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) and the changing climate in the Nicola watershed
• Establish positive and ongoing working relationships among research and extension organizations, federal agencies, provincial ministries, local governments, first nations and the private sector
• Identify information gaps and priorities for research and further collaboration in the watershed, how to improve decision making, and how to support implementation of the Nicola Water Use Management Plan (WUMP)

Who should attend?:  Anyone doing research on hydrology, or managing impacts of the hydrological changes on natural resources, water supply, or an economic activity such as agriculture or forestry. 

• Hydrology researchers
• Forest industry representatives
• Managers of infrastructure, including government and the private sector
• Emergency management coordinators
• Agriculture industry, cattlemen
• Water managers at all levels of government
• First Nations organizations
• Natural resource managers

AGENDA

Day/time	Topic	Who (proposed)
March 30 1:00pm	Welcome, objectives, introductions, expectations
1:30pm to 4:30pm (coffee break in middle)	Current status of knowledge and research of MPB impacts and a changing climate on hydrology of the Nicola watershed and other similar Interior watersheds in BC. Excercises/small group dialogue on what key research findings are of most value to your organization/your sub-basin Nicola watershed maps available on table	MOE and/or MNRO (Kevin Bennett, Rita Winkler, others?)Okanagan Basin Water Board FORREX UBC – Harry Nelson, or Sandra Brown TRU – Kevin Bladon Don Dobson, engineer
5:00pm	Dinner break
6:30pm to 8:30pm	Public forum (to help achieve Nicola WUMP recommendation #2) – possible topics: City of Merritt – Water Resources Advisory Committee Ministry of Environment, Kevin Bennett – groundwater-surface water interaction Okanagan Water Board – what they are, what they do, how they work Nicola WUMP – current status, state of watershed, etc. Panel format, 15min each, Q&A to follow	Open to public, not just people registered for the workshop
March 31, 8:30am to 12:00pm (coffee break in middle)	Nicola Watershed Description of watershed, sub-basins, land use, water licence allocation by sub-basin, etc. Brief history of Nicola WUMP Local knowledge and observations about changes due to MPB and changing climate – narratives or data First Nations perspectives or traditional ecological knowledge Exercise for research organizations – what research opportunities do you see?	Nicola WUMP steering committee and/or Round TableBruce McFarlane, MNRO First Nations Neil Todd, Nicola Watershed Stewardship Fisheries Authority Cattlemens’ perspective
12:00pm	Lunch
12:30pm to 3:00pm (coffee break in middle)	Small groups in 2 topic areas:  consumptive uses of water; and fisheries/ecosystems: (the following are potential questions to use) What decisions can be improved? What are the key information gaps to improve those decisions?  How can collaboration be improved? How do we support continued collaboration beyond today’s workshop?  Beyond just asking for money? What are some projects to bridge science, policy and decision making? What future challenges can be expected? How do we proceed?  What are the next steps?  What is to be achieved in 6 months?  1 year?  3-5 years? Who has what resources to proceed?
3:00pm	Reporting out – big ideas from each group, addressing what, who, when, how
4:00pm	Wrap up, next steps, evaluation

 TO REGISTER

Please contact the Fraser Basin Council below to register for the workshop.  Deadline for registrations: March 25, 2011.

Fraser Basin Council

104-197 Second Ave. N.

Williams Lake, BC   V2G 1Z5

Tel. 250-392-1400, Fax. 250-305-1004

Email glucier@fraserbasin.bc.ca  

 For questions regarding the workshop please contact Mike Simpson, Senior Regional Manager, msimpson@fraserbasin.bc.ca or 250-392-1400

News Releases

Water Conservation

In the drought-prone Nicola watershed, water conservation is essential to preserve our precious water resource. 

With the snowpack at 85% of normal as of the beginning of February 2011, it isn’t too early to start thinking about how we can change our water use permanently. 

The Nicola Water Use Managemant Plan is in favour of water metering.

Current Conditions

The River Forecast Centre has released its snow survey and water supply bulletin for March 1, 2011. 

“Basin snow water indices for BC at March 1 vary from a low of 88% of normal in the North Thompson and Okanagan-Kettle basins to a high of 129% of normal on Vancouver Island. Indices have increased slightly for most basins in the province since February, most notably the Upper Fraser, Middle Fraser, Lower Fraser, North Thompson, Nicola, Similkameen, South Coast, Peace and Skeena-Nass. Indices have remained about the same since last month in the South Thompson, Columbia, Okanagan-Kettle and Kootenay, and have decreased in the Nechako and Vancouver Island.

By this date, about 80% of the annual peak BC snowpack has accumulated. In general, the snowpack as of March 1st is at normal levels throughout the province, and does not indicate extraordinary conditions for potential flood or drought risk.”

To link to the entire bulletin, click http://bcrfc.env.gov.bc.ca/bulletins/watersupply/current.htm

Please tell us what conditions are like in your area of the Nicola watershed.  

What’s the snowpack like where you live?

Drought

The Nicola Watershed Community Round Table is planning to install a sign indicating if the watershed is in a drought and the severity of that drought.   The sign would be similar to the signs around the watershed that alert residents to the forest fire danger category. 

Where should this sign be placed for maximum visibility?

Welcome to the NWCRT Blog!

Nicola Lake Outlet

We’ve created this blog to give residents of the Nicola watershed in the southern interior of British Columbia a place to share information and discuss issues related to land and resource management, drought and water conservation. 

We would like to hear your concerns and your solutions.  Is there a issue that would benefit from a public forum?