SCIENCE TALK: Mountains as Groundwater Towers, A Canadian Rocky Mountain Example

Mountain regions are known as ‘water towers’ that supply river water to lowland areas worldwide. While mountains are known to buffer seasonal variations in river flow by storing and releasing water stored as snow and glaciers all year round, the role of groundwater is much less widely acknowledged, poorly understood, and arguably more important. The Bow Watershed provides river water to a significant population (including Canada’s fourth largest metropolitan centre), irrigation, power generation, and industry. Most of the river flow is generated in the upper watershed in the Rocky Mountains. The amount of groundwater baseflow from bedrock aquifers (estimated to contribute two-thirds of the total annual flow in the largest tributary) is changing on a decadal scale. While the tangible disappearance of the iconic glaciers is disheartening, their loss may not alter river water availability as much as predicted when groundwater is meaningfully considered in the proglacial watershed environment.

In this talk, Professor Cathy Ryan will discuss the Canadian Rocky Mountain example, sharing how the Bow Watershed provides river water to a significant population (including Canada’s fourth largest metropolitan centre), irrigation, power generation, and industry