Waterloo launches Global Water Futures Observatories (GWFO)
The Water Institute is pleased to announce that Waterloo is poised to continue its leadership in water research and education with the announcement of the Global Water Futures Observatories (GWFO) project supported by generous funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation Major Science Initiatives Fund and GWFO partner institutions. This new $40.67M project will continue the legacy of the Global Water Futures program from 2023 to 2029.
GWFO represents Canada's foremost university-operated freshwater observation network, mobilizing nine Canadian post-secondary institutions— Carleton, McMaster, Saskatchewan (lead), Toronto, Trent, Waterloo, Western, Wilfrid Laurier and Windsor.
The vision of GWFO is to serve as a national network of water observing and demonstration sites, supported by deployable systems and major laboratories that provide open access water data and the necessary infrastructure to collect supplementary data. Network data will inform the development and testing of water prediction models, monitor changes in water sources, underpin the diagnosis of risks to water security and help design solutions to ensure the long-term sustainability of freshwater resources and services in Canada and throughout the world’s cold regions.
Spanning seven provinces and territories, including the Great Lakes Basin and six major river basins, GWFO observatories include 64 instrumented basins, lakes, rivers, and wetlands, complemented by 15 deployable water measurement systems and 18 state-of-the-art water laboratories allowing researchers to understand the dynamics and resiliency of Canada's aquatic systems.
Leading Waterloo GWFO contributions will be Philippe Van Cappellen, Professor, Faculty of Science, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Canada Excellence Research Chair Laureate in Ecohydrology.
Photo: Philippe Van Cappellen, Water Institute strategic planning committee member, Professor, Faculty of Science, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Canada Excellence Research Chair Laureate in Ecohydrology.
GWFO represents a crucial investment in the world-leading research that is needed to protect our vital freshwater resources and aquatic ecosystems against ongoing and emerging threats.
GWFO will actively engage with Indigenous communities, governments, industry, and agriculture to foster partnerships that promote effective water services and management. By driving research in watershed management, supply forecasting, and ecosystem health monitoring and conservation, GWFO seeks to navigate Canada through the challenges posed by climate change, urbanization, emerging contaminants and ecological shifts.
Observatories will support the development of agricultural and municipal water governance models, new water-efficient cropping and cultivation approaches, river, lake and groundwater management solutions, as well as advanced and unprecedented capabilities to predict water futures for Canada. GWFO will spearhead the acquisition and management of open-access and interoperable hydrological and water quality data across Canada.
A GWFO launch event is scheduled for April 17th at 2:30 p.m. in the PHY 3019 lobby featuring presentations from GWFO partners and a discussion on shared objectives. GWFO participants and stakeholders are invited to join us or watch the live stream of the launch event to mark this significant milestone.
Learn more about the Waterloo GWFO facilities and join us in shaping the future of Canada's water resources.