Finding solutions to the global water crisis

(left) Prof. Jay Famiglietti is the director of the Global Institute for Water Security (GIWS) at the University of Saskatchewan; (right) the Peyto Glacier in the Canadian Rockies is a GIWS research site. SUPPLIED.

USask spearheads the largest university-led freshwater research initiative in the world

Water – both in terms of quantity and quality – is one of the most pressing issues facing the world. It is critical to human, animal and environmental health, and with freshwater resources under more pressure than ever before, the consequences are more serious than ever before.

A stunning number of the world’s population – five billion of the 7.6 billion people around the globe – live in areas where water security is at risk, according to projections of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

That’s why now, more than ever, the team at the Global Institute for Water Security (GIWS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) is determined to find solutions to growing water problems in Canada and around the world.

Canada is often thought to be a water-rich nation with an abundance of clean, beautiful freshwater, but that idea is changing rapidly. Each year brings more floods, droughts, fires, drinking water advisories and concern over the production of food. It’s a global water crisis that has hit closer to home than many would like to admit.

“The global water crisis requires a portfolio approach and extensive collaboration,” says Jay Famiglietti, Canada 150 Research Chair in Hydrology and Remote Sensing, and executive director of GIWS. “We are not going to make much progress if we try to tackle this alone. It has to be a group effort.”

“GIWS is a world-class water research institute and one of the most advanced cold regions hydrology centres in the world,” says Prof. Famiglietti. “We are dedicated to helping protect our precious freshwater resources needed for the world’s growing demand for sustainable food production, mitigating the risk of water-related disasters such as floods, droughts and fires, predicting and forecasting extreme global change through the use of advanced remote sensing and modelling techniques, and co-creating traditional knowledge with western science to empower Indigenous communities in protecting water health.”

Before moving to Saskatchewan in July 2018, Prof. Famiglietti served as the senior water scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and he was a faculty member at the University of California, Irvine, and at the University of Texas at Austin. His research group uses satellites and develops advanced computer models to track how freshwater availability is changing around the globe. A fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the Geological Society of America, Prof. Famiglietti is a regular adviser to state, provincial and federal government officials on water security issues.

GIWS also leads the pan-Canadian Global Water Futures (GWF) program, the largest university-led freshwater research initiative in the world. GWF involves hundreds of researchers, students and staff from 18 universities across the country. The program aims to provide governments, businesses and communities with risk management tools they need to tackle threats to Canada’s water supply and quality.

The GIWS main headquarters is on the USask campus in Saskatoon, along with a Rocky Mountain coldwater laboratory in Canmore, Alberta, and other research sites across the country and around the world.

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