There are similarities and profound differences in the water security issues for Canada and India, leading to a partnership between the University of Saskatchewan’s Global Institute for Water Security and a top Indian research institution – the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore.

Director of the GIWS, Jay Famiglietti, says both institutes share mutual interests in topics like high mountain snow pack from the Rocky Mountains and the Himalayas and the effects downstream , and predictive modelling to forecast water quality issues. A fundamental difference would be the water quality issues on a much larger scale and water scarcity in the highly populated country of India.

Research from the Global Institute is around glacier decline, snowmelt and groundwater movement, with the goal of creating sustainable water supplies. Famiglietti says this collaboration will mean sharing research, exchanging faculty members and students and learning from each other.

The GIWS is home to the Global Water Futures program, which is the world’s largest freshwater research program.