News

Efficient and accurate estimations of soil moisture are key for proper crop irrigation management.

Written by Department of Geography and Environmental Management graduate student Yusof Ghiasi, Water Institute member and professor of Geography and Environmental Management Claude Duguay, professor of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Armaghan Salehian, and Depar

Three recent papers by Waterloo’s Ecohydrology Research Group (ERG) on the fate and transport of nutrient elements along the water cycle have been featured in American Geophysical Union’s EoS Research Spotlights.

The Great Lakes seem so abundant. The five lakes that surround our province account for 20 per cent of the world's fresh water and they also help keep our economy running --- from providing power to watering crops. So, what would happen if there was a disruption in that supply? Where would the limited resources go to keep out economy going? Chris dela Torre from CBC Radio spoke to Roy Brouwer, the Executive Director of the Water Institute at the University of Waterloo, to help answer these questions.

Written by Rob de Loë

Can art and science be brought together fruitfully in ways that lead to new, deeper and more enduring understanding of complex environmental problems? Can art open new pathways to understanding and caring about the environment?

Researchers have developed a new integrated model to evaluate the economic impacts of climate change on the Canadian Great Lakes Basin.

The Great Lakes are the largest freshwater system in the world. But factors like climate change, urbanization, and a growing population are increasing pressure on these valuable resources and may limit their availability for future generations. 

Scientists at the University of Waterloo’s Water Institute developed the new hydro-economic model to make the often unknown and invisible value of water more explicit.

There is an unusual new way to track COVID-19. Researchers in Ontario, including Water Institute member Professor Mark Servos' research group, are actually testing wastewater for traces of the disease in hopes of identifying the hotspots ahead of a potential second wave. The testing is happening in multiple areas including Durham Region, Windsor-Essex, London, Toronto, Waterloo, Kingston and Ottawa.

Two Water Institute members have been named members of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. Maria Strack, professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, and Josh Neufeld, professor in the Department of Biology, join three other Waterloo researchers named Royal Society of Canada fellows and members of the College.

In July of 2018, a discussion between Paul General, then-Wildlife Manager at Six Nations of the Grand River, and Elaine Ho, PhD Candidate in Waterloo’s Social and Ecological Sustainability program and Collaborative Water Program, resulted in the idea to engage the Six Nations community through the arts.  Elaine then worked with co-creator Richelle Miller, Coordinator of Music for the Spirit and Indigenous Visual Arts, to develop the Grand Expressions exhibit - a project to capture the perspectives of Indigenous youth in a cultu

Since the 1960s, eutrophication has been a critical problem in Lake Erie. High phosphorus concentrations in lake water are considered to be one of the major drivers that causes eutrophication leading to an overgrowth of algae. After the restriction of phosphorus use in household products, and upgrades of wastewater treatment plants, eutrophication was absent in the lake from 1980 to the mid-1990s.

Water Institute member Neil Thomson, a professor in Waterloo's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, has been awarded the 2020 Keith E Anderson Award for scientists and engineers who make outstanding contributions to the National Ground Water Association (NGWA).