GIS tool kit to support municipal drain management in preparation for climate change

Description

The purpose of this project was to develop a set of spatially referenced tools for watercourse managers and those in charge of planning sustainable, environmentally friendly improvements to water systems. The tools can be used to precisely target areas most subject to erosion and most likely to release suspended particles and phosphorus into watercourses in rural areas and to help adapt water systems to climate change. The management tools and regional hydrological database developed during the project are to help define customized hydrological parameters for designing structures based on required adaptations to future climate change, which should reduce water system maintenance costs in the long term.

Objective(s)

• Develop an integrated set of geomatic modules for:
  • Conducting hydrological analyses and preventing soil erosion
  • Conducting hydrogeomorphological analyses and preventing watercourse erosion
  • Evaluating hydrological design parameters for work on municipal water systems
• Test the operational efficiency of tools developed during case studies that looked at various types of innovative structures such as drainage corridors, two-level channels, weirs, groynes, wide riparian strips, controlled drainage outlets, drainage ditches, etc.
• Set up a research group on watercourse management and the impacts of climate change