For Water Institute member James Craig, surface water modelling started out as a side project. As a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Craig is well-versed in the art of solving puzzles, and 13 years ago he decided to expand beyond his expertise in groundwater and take a deeper look inside surface water models – a numerical representation of a real-world system that aids in understanding, predicting and managing water resources – to investigate how they worked and how he might be able to improve them.
“I discovered that typical hydrological models are sold as one-size-fits-all,” said Craig, Canada Research Chair in Hydrologic Modelling and Analysis. “However, in Canada there are incredibly diverse landscapes from coast-to-coast, each which need to be treated differently in order to make useful predictions.”
Currently, with the support of the National Research Council Canada, Raven is being used by BC Hydro, Trans Alta, and, most recently, in New Brunswick for flood forecasting.
“As more users adopt and implement Raven, more new and interesting problems arise that my team and I can solve,” said Craig. “The only way to adapt and improve the model is through feedback from each user.”
It is important to Craig and his team that tools like Raven are accessible and useful to consultants, educators and regulators. This is how academic research can have meaningful impact in the real world.
In June, Craig is offering a short course on principles of hydrologic modelling. To learn more about his research, visit his website.