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The Water Resources Management Division, Newfoundland's Department of Environment, administers acts and regulations related to the allocation of water, stream alterations, protection of water supply areas, licensing of well drillers and other aspects of water resource management. Two major priorities of the Division are the monitoring of flood hazards caused by the formation of river ice and ice damming, as well as the monitoring of land cover changes in protected watersheds throughout the province. A major priority related to the Division's mandate is the monitoring of river ice on the Exploits River in central Newfoundland. In the past, ice damming has led to flooding of populated areas, and the severity and economic impact of floods related to ice jams is exacerbated by the danger of post-flooding freeze-up. The Division requires the monitoring of water levels, runoff and degree of ice coverage, as well as the modeling of ice cover development throughout the ice season. However, many sections of the river are not accessible, and alternative methods are required to obtain estimates of ice cover to aid in the calibration and validation of the modeling effort. Classified river ice products have been delivered to the NL government since 2005 where images are posted in near-real time to their website.
The Athabasca River at Fort McMurray, Alberta is prone to severe ice jam events that have been documented for over 100 years and breakup has been monitored intensively for the past 25 years. Despite these efforts, no reliable flood forecast model is yet available for this site. The Regional Environmental Management Division of Alberta Environment is responsible for monitoring this river basin and other in the province. Polar View began providing the river ice service to Alberta Environment in 2005 and continues to evaluate and update this service based on field collaborations and feedback from Alberta Environment. River ice products are delivered in near-real time to AE during the ice season on a password protected Internet site.
The Water Resources Section of the Yukon Department of Environment administers water-related policies, regulations and programs for the Yukon Territory. The Water Resources Section operates a network of water quality and water quantity stations around the territory to monitor, research and record the Yukon's water resources. The Hydrology Section manages a hydrometric monitoring network to conduct snow surveys, provide flow forecasting, monitor lake and flow levels and provide advice and predictions to industry. The Water Quality Section operates a small analytical and license audit lab to conduct water sampling for license audits, to assess water quality and to support environmental assessments. The Porcupine River in Northern Yukon routinely experiences ice jams causing severe flooding in the community of Old Crow and the surrounding area. Therefore, river ice products for the Porcupine River were delivered in near-real time via a Web Interface.
The Lena River is one of the largest rivers in the world located in the Sakha Republic, Russia. Ice jams, intensive snow melting and severe climate conditions can contribute to flooding activities in the Lena River basin, where the flow is extremely variable. The Lena River flooded in 1998 and 2001 killing 29 people and caused in excess of 10 Billion Rubles in damage destroying the town of Lensk. The Sakha Ministries of Emergency is responsible for monitoring this river and its tributaries. The Northern Forum Flood Working Group was set up in 2004 in Khanty-Mansyisk, Russia, to cooperate on flood forecasting issues using the latest technologies, such as SAR satellite images and flood mathematical modeling using 2D and 3D models. The Flood Working Group is an approved project of the Arctic Council and was jointly launched by Northern Forum and the Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and response (EPPR) Arctic Council Working Group. The principal objective is the ability to predict spring flooding as a result of ice jams and acute climate changes in the North, year-round flooding is also on the agenda of the Working Group. In the 2006 ice season, Polar View delivered classified images of the Lena River via email to the Sahka Ministries of Emergency.
The Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center of the National Weather Service in the United States produces timely and accurate water forecasts and information using the best available scientific principles to integrate and model water, weather, and climate information. The objectives of the hydrologic service program of the National Weather Service are: 1. to mitigate loss of life and property damages caused by floods by providing
the nation with timely issuance of river and flood forecasts; The Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center is responsible for monitoring all the river basins in this region. A major river in this area is the Yukon River, which was monitoring during the 2006 ice season for the APRFC. Classified river ice images were delivered via email and corresponded with field activities. |
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