A University of Saskatchewan associate provost and engineering researcher is working on a few projects with help from students to protect the prairies from floods and droughts.
More specifically, Dena McMartin explains that they are working with smaller communities to identify freshwater sources and their water infrastructure to see if they are at risk for floods or droughts.
We all expect our water to be fresh and safe when it comes out of the tap, but McMartin suggests the science of how it gets there is not always understood.
For example, having a wetland in a neighbourhood or storm water retention pond can help to mitigate water issues.
The project is also looking at what kinds of requirements are needed for keeping sloughs and ponds on agriculture land to support flood management downstream to communities that need that water to be retained away from a town’s boundaries.
McMartin is also working with a colleague in Australia on a project dealing with what our education systems are teaching children about water, and how that can be improved.