CGU-CNC/IAHS

The Canadian National Committee for the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (CNC/IAHS).

Contribution to the Quadrennial Report of CNC/IUGG to the 22^nd General Assembly of IUGG, Birmingham, July 1999.

H. G. Jones, INRS-Eau, Université du Québec, Ste-Foy, Québec G1V 4C7.

Introduction

This report consists of two sections. The first covers the activities of the CNC/IAHS since the 21^st General Assembly of the IUGG in Boulder, Colorado, in July 1995. The second is a series of review papers on hydrological research in Canada. Particular emphasis is placed on recent progress in the acquisition of knowledge on processes and anthropogenic impacts, which serve as the foundation for the management and conservation of Canadian water resources.

1) Activities 1995-1999

During the period 1995-1997 an interim CNC/IAHS was in place supported by the Hydrology Section of the Canadian Geophysical Union (CGU-HS). The interim committee consulted the Canadian hydrological community on the opportunity to set up CNC/IAHS under the auspices of CGU-HS and subsequently prepared the necessary documentation for the composition of the CNC/IAHS Executive and mandate of CNC/IAHS. CNC/IAHS was then formed as a sub-committee of CGU-HS at the CGU Annual Meeting in Banff in 1997.

The roles and objectives of the CNC/IAHS were defined as follows:

to promote and support hydrology as a geoscience within National and among International communities;
to encourage and promote the collaboration between IAHS and Canadian scientific organisations and institutions;
to encourage and promote the participation of Canadian scientists in IAHS and its activities;
to initiate cooperative research and education programmes in hydrology with IAHS ;
to respond, on behalf of Canada, to scientific requests from IAHS;
to undertake the dissemination and transfer of information on IAHS-related activities among Canadian hydrologists;
to seek and support the nomination of Canadian hydrologists to Executive positions of IAHS;
to arrange the selection and nomination of National Representatives to IAHS, IAHS Commissions and Committees.

The first CNC/IAHS Annual Meeting was held in Quebec City in May 1998 and the second Annual Meeting in Banff in May 1999.

The CNC/IAHS Executive from 1997 to 1999 consisted of:

      Chair, H.G. Jones, INRS-Eau, Québec, Canadian Senior Representative to IAHS;
     Secretary, J. Buttle, Trent, Canadian Junior Representative to IAHS ;
     CGU-HS President, Phil Marsh, National Hydrology Research Centre, Saskatoon;
     CGU-HS Vice-President, Hok Woo, McMaster;
     CMOS President, J. Reid;
     CWRA President, R. Boals;
     CCIAH President, J. Wills;
     CGU Member-at-Large, K. Young, Waterloo.

In the years following 1997 the CNC/IAHS concentrated on three main topics.

The first concerned the dissemination of information on the goals and modus operandi of the committee to the Canadian hydrological community and the consolidation of contacts and collaboration with the member organisations of the committee itself.

The second topic was the strengthening of Canadian participation in IAHS by nominating candidates for office in the IAHS Bureau and in the bureaus of its constituent Scientific Commissions and Committtees for the 22^nd General assembly of IUGG.. The call for nominations was sent out in 1998 and the names of the nominated candidates forwarded to the IAHS Nomination Panel in January 1999. The CNC/IAHS also initiated a selection process for the delegation of Canadian National Representatives (CNR) to IAHS and to the IAHS Commissions and Committees. CNRs were named to all IAHS and IAHS Commissions and Committees in 1999.

The third consisted in preparing the report on Canadian hydrology as a contribution to this CNC/IUGG Quadrennial Report. This contribution is in the form of the following section, which is the series of review papers referred to in the introduction. These papers will also be submitted to the journal "Hydrological Processes" for consideration as a special issue of the journal to be published in the Autumn of 1999.

2) Progress in Canadian Hydrology.

The individual papers which resume the recent progress in Canadian hydrology are:

Ashmore, P., Conly, F.M., deBoer, D., Martin, Y., Pettigrew, E. and Roy A. "Recent Canadian contributions to research on fluvial erosion and sedimentation processes".

Beltaos, S. "Advances in river ice hydrology".

Buttle, J.M., Creed, I.F. and Pomeroy, J.W. "Advances in Canadian forest hydrology, 1995-1998".

Munro, D.S. "Progress in Canadian glacier hydrology".

Pietroniro, A. and Leconte, R. "A review of Canadian remote sensing applications in hydrology, 1995-1999".

Price, J.S. and Waddington, J.M. "Progress in Canadian wetland hydrology, 1995-1998".

Rouse, W.R. "Progress in hydrological research in the Mackenzie GEWEX study".

Slaymaker, O. "Research developments in the hydrological sciences in Canada (1995-1998): Surface water: Quantity, quality and ecology".

Woo, Ming-ko, Marsh, P. and Pomeroy, J.W. "Snow, frozen soils and permafrost hydrology in Canada, 1995-98".