Instrumentation at the Westcastle Field Station at the foot of the Eastern Slopes. (Photo by Thomas Porter, supplied by the University of Lethbridge)

By Justin Goulet

New U of L project focusing on health of water resources on Alberta’s Eastern Slopes

Apr 2, 2022 | 7:15 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A new project out of the University of Lethbridge is taking a look at the health of water resources on Alberta’s Eastern Slopes.

The new initiative is being led by principal investigator Dr. Chris Hopkinson of the U of L. It’s funded by Alberta Innovates and will see a partnership between academics, the public and private sector to develop innovative data and technology workflows to better understand and monitor the conditions of Alberta’s Eastern Slopes vegetation and snowpack resources.

Hopkinson stated, “mountains are incredibly valuable to us, not just for their easy access to natural resources or as indicators of environmental change, but also for their recreational and spiritual values.”

“More than anything, they are the source of our most critical resource — water.”

Hopkinson is a researcher in the Department of Geography & Environment and the Advanced Resolution Terradynamics Monitoring System Laboratory (ARTEMIS).

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The majority of cities in Alberta draw water from rivers that start as glacial or snow melt in the Eastern Slopes, hence the need for source water protection in these areas.

Hopkinson said, “with changes in climate and the many land cover changes that have occurred due to resource extraction, wildfire, insect outbreaks and other successional processes, there is a growing concern that the water resources we have come to rely on over the last century may not be available in the future.”

Alberta Innovates has invested $583,000 over four years for the project, which will marry satellite imaging and airborne lidar data with on-ground monitoring devices to gain a better understanding of historical and future trends in Eastern Slopes landcover, snowpack and water balance.

It also highlights a concerted effort by multiple partners, including Alberta Environment and Parks, Parks Canada (Waterton, Banff and Jasper), the University of Waterloo, MacHydro Consultants Inc., Fluid Planet, Inside Education and Castle Mountain Resort, to address an issue of public importance.

Hopkinson added, “we will model changing snowpack and runoff properties across the Eastern Slopes.”

“Our goal is to develop an integrated snow and vegetation modelling framework to inform future water management and policy in Alberta. This will allow us to understand, forecast and protect our precious water resources.”

The project will also support the creation of innovative high tech online resources to support public high school education on Alberta’s Eastern Slopes land and water resources, while supplying research and training opportunities for U of L graduate students.

Funding for the project started in January and will run through December, 2025.

A video featuring Dr. Hopkinson can be viewed below.