SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMING
CentrEau's approach consists of strengthening water governance by studying the interactions between uses and availability of the resource. Water is used for multiple uses and its quality and/or availability are modified accordingly. These two facets of the water governance problem are often linked, but rarely integrated into overall planning. In the context of climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressures, a supply of good quality water in sufficient quantity is not always assured. Water availability and quality depend on multiple interrelated factors that must be studied together to design sustainable solutions for water governance. Thus, the governance tools that will be developed under the leadership of CentrEau will increase the resilience and water security of communities. CentrEau's scientific programming, ambitious but long-term, is based on the two fundamental axes of uses and availability which are crossed by the transversal axis of governance and management. Each axis has three themes.
AXIS
Water governance and management
This axis is interdisciplinary and transversal, since it federates the other axes around a common vision of sound water governance. Water being present in all ecosystems and key sectors of communities, its governance must indeed be well planned. However, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently concluded that current water governance systems were not able to cope with the challenges linked to climate change. Added to this is the fact that water is at the heart of important social changes (demographic, public policies, urbanization, etc.) to which communities are exposed. Revolving around the notions of water use, availability, vulnerability, uncertainty and resilience, this axis fuels reflection on the rules, public policies and practices surrounding decision-making in a context of interdependence by pooling the results and complementary scientific expertise of the group.
Themes:
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G.1 Understanding the interactions between uses and availability
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G.1 Understand the risks and key governance disruptors at different scales
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G.3 Identify governance venues and models to reduce risks and vulnerabilities
AXIS
Water uses
This axis places the quality of collective life at the center of research on water management. Water has an essential use, both for humans and for natural environments. Cities, towns and remote communities use water for a variety of purposes, but on different scales. On the other hand, the primary and secondary economic sectors need water to produce and meet the needs of society and ensure economic development in accordance with sustainable development and a blue economy. All of these uses modify the quality and availability of our water resources. In order to promote the integrated and comprehensive management of this essential resource, the main objective of this axis is to develop an observatory on water uses and examine their impacts. Thus, strategies will be identified and evaluated in order to promote the improvement of the quality of the resource and the reduction of water consumption. This will be done from a circular economy perspective, in a context of climate change, in accordance with the Quebec Water Strategy 2018-2030 and aiming to achieve the SDGs, in particular SDG 6 for access to water and sanitation, but also SDGs 1 (poverty), 2 (zero hunger), 3 (health), 11 (cities), 14 (aquatic life) and 15 (terrestial life).
Themes:
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U.1 Qualify, quantify and optimize the water needs and uses of cities and small communities
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U.2 Quantifying and optimizing water uses for primary production, taking into account the ecological services offered in various sectors
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U.3 Quantify and optimize water use in secondary production
AXIS
Water availability
Before looking at the different uses of water, whether anthropogenic or ecosystem-based, it is essential to know the volumes available locally. These depend on complex interactions between the climate, the biophysical characteristics of the territory and its occupation. The available volumes change over the days, seasons and years, subject to climatic upheavals and increasing anthropogenic pressure. They vary from one watershed to another and even locally within the same basin. The detailed characterization of water resources requires an in-depth understanding of the processes involved and their modeling. This axis, which is part of SDG 13 (fight against climate change), aims to improve our knowledge of the flow of water and to develop hydrological and hydrometeorological tools to predict its availability in the short and long term to support water governance.
Themes:
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D.1 Quantifying the spatiotemporal variability of hydrological flows and states
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D.2 Predicting the long-term hydrometeorological regime and the necessary adaptations to water governance
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D.3 Predicting short-term flows and water levels using a chain of models combining the atmosphere, the watershed and the river