News

The Water Institute is pleased to share our newly-released 2020-21 Impact Report, a reflection on how our members have made an impact in the past year addressing some of the world's most pressing water challenges.

This year’s publication, available in an interactive digital format, provides a sample of our innovative, interdisciplinary and international accomplishments.

A new open-access website for sharing water quality data from the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Basin has been released.

Great Lakes DataStream advances collaborative freshwater protection by bringing people and data together. The site already contains seven million data points and includes dozens of parameters—ranging from temperature to metals and nutrients. Data on Great Lakes DataStream has been shared by a wide range of water monitors from across Ontario and Quebec, including community groups and Conservation Authorities, as well as federal and provincial governments.   

Agricultural Water Futures has just released a new public-friendly report that provides a glimpse into the progress the project has made during the first phase of study (2017-2020).

On November 11, the University of Waterloo is honoured to take part in the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, UK.

Are you conducting research in sub-snow and cold regions’ subsurface environments?

If so, please consider submitting your manuscripts to the new Frontiers special issue exploring the topic “The Cold Regions in Transition: Impacts on Soil and Groundwater Biogeochemistry” co-edited by professors and Water Institute members Fereidoun Rezanezhad, and Philippe Van Cappellen from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Ecohydrology Research Group.

The benefits of consuming traditional foods tend to outweigh the risks of possible mercury contamination, according to a recent study.

The research, which was part of a larger biomonitoring project to address community concerns about environmental contaminants in traditional foods, such as fish, also found that mercury exposure in people may be low even when it is sometimes present in elevated levels. Additionally, the researchers discovered that mercury levels in people in northern regions vary by season and region. 

Waterloo International and the Water Institute were delighted this week to participate in the Chile 2021 Conference of the Americas on International Education (CAEI), which took place from October 19 - 22. 

Held virtually by this year’s host country Chile with the theme “Charting the Future: Strengthening the Global Knowledge Community,” this major conference is held every two years.

The next Great Lakes Public Forum (GLPF) will be held in the fall of 2022 in Windsor, ON, and is anticipated to be a three-day hybrid in-person-virtual event with the theme “Our Great Lakes: Past, Present and Future.”

São Paulo is not only Brazil’s economic engine and financial centre but also the most populous state in the country, with around 44 million inhabitants in big cities, like the state capital of São Paulo, which has faced water security challenges in recent years. These severe water scarcity conditions impact all aspects of life, including human and environmental health. In an effort to identify new, innovative water management approaches that increase water security in both the urban and rural areas in the state of São Paulo, the Water Institute is collaborating with several Brazilian partners on a new five-year, US$1.2M project entitled “SACRE: Integrated water solutions for resilient cities” funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).