This past June, Emmi Matern represented the Watershed Ecosystems Project and UBC Okanagan at the Canadian Water Resources Association 2024 National Conference in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
The conference, titled “Bridging water research and practice: Mobilizing our collective knowledge”, was primarily attended by representatives from government and industry, and the various academic contributions at the conference were well-received as a bridge between research and applied practice. This theme is receiving attention across Canada, from stormwater research and management in PEI to flood prediction in the Southern Lakes region of the Yukon, to the work being done by the Watershed Ecosystem Project team in the Okanagan.
Emmi presented a poster related to one of her research outcomes, and attended a Q&A period about her poster and its context in watershed management.
Emmi’s presentation, titled “Fragility and societal vulnerability in watersheds: Managing for resilience and risk reduction of linked hydrologic hazards”, presented a new recommendation for decision-makers: Hazards should be viewed as linked processes, not as independent phenomena, and it should be acknowledged that multiple risks can and do occur at the same time. By taking this approach and assessing hazards and risks in an integrated fashion, maladaptive outcomes can be identified and mitigated.
This particular research topic is indirectly related to Emmi’s work on risk-based watershed assessment for her doctoral program. Emmi emphasized the relationships between fragility, vulnerability, adaptive capacity, and resilience in order to provide context for watershed decision-makers that typically only consider a single hazard and risk at a time. For many water management practitioners in attendance, this presentation likely served as an introduction to the relatively new concept of ‘maladaptive strategies’, which has not yet bridged the gap between research and practice.
Emmi Matern, PhD Student, UBC Okanagan presenting at the Canadian Water Resource Association 2024 Annual Conference June, 2024.
In addition to the conference, Emmi attended a tour that showcased key irrigation infrastructure for the South Saskatchewan River Basin. The tour included stops at Gardiner Dam, the Lake Diefenbaker spillway, the Eastside and Westside pump stations, and two local businesses that are part of the irrigation network: Spring Creek Garden and Black Fox Farm and Distillery.
For more information on Emmi’s research, please visit: Urban Water.
Article written by Emmi Moore.
