GWF Synthesis of Results and Outcomes

We are carrying out a synthesis of our project and core team science outcomes as they wrap up their activities over the final year of the GWF program.  Advancements and findings will be pulled together into a framework centered around policy and management, practitioner, community-level, and other users' questions and needs, and we will develop a major national report with topical and thematic chapters on:

  • changing climate and meteorological extremes;
  • agriculture and water;
  • changing landcover and forests;
  • sensitivity and sustainability of groundwater systems;
  • changing lakes, water quality, and aquatic ecosystems;
  • changing cryosphere, river basins, and hydrological regimes;
  • human, social, and economic dimensions of water;
  • GWF international activities and contributions. 

Each of these will summarize water policy and practice implications, and the chapters will be underpinned by published scientific articles in the peer reviewed literature.  From these, we will generate targeted and specially tailored outputs to communicate outcomes to particular groups (technical, policy level, public).   

The synthesis will also lead to regional summary reports comprised of a comprehensive description of GWF findings framed within the regional/river basin context (Great Lakes-St Lawrence/East, Western Basins, Northern Basins) directed primarily towards regional users.

In parallel, we will develop an Indigenous focused and led synthesis to pull together outcomes from our Indigenous Community Water Research Projects and other components of GWF, provide Indigenous perspectives and framing of GWF findings, and amplify Indigenous voices and knowledge towards water solutions.

Personnel and Resources

The GWF institutional leads are supporting this activity with dedicated personnel to assist in writing, researching, developing stats, compiling information, and making specialized model runs (“policy runs”) to inform the report.  Some new members of the writing team are Ashleigh Duffy (former IMPC project manager) and Darrell Corkal (previously with the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration and a contributing author of the GWF stakeholder needs assessment report at the beginning of the program). 

Timeline

We are aiming for a first draft of the national report by December 2024 and completion of the report by May 2025.  The preparation of journal articles, regional reports, and communication products will occur concomitantly, but may take longer for completion and final publication.  The GWF Indigenous synthesis will be lagged several months from the national report and is anticipated by the summer of 2025.