1. Alberta Environment’s River Forecast Centre Presentation to the UNSTABLE Workshop Edmonton, Alberta April 18, 2007 Ray Keller Team Leader, Flow Forecasting Water Management Operations North Saskatchewan River at Edmonton – June 2005

2. What River Forecasting Does 1. Real-time monitoring and reporting 2. Water Management 3. Infrastructure Management 4. Water Supply Forecasting 5. Flood Forecasting

3. 1. What do we monitor and report? Real-time data Stream levels and flowsStream levels and flows Lake and reservoir levelsLake and reservoir levels PrecipitationPrecipitation SnowpackSnowpack Temperature, wind, humidityTemperature, wind, humidity Water qualityWater quality

4. Data Networks Over 350 Hydrometric Stations (Water Levels/Flows) Over 350 Hydrometric Stations (Water Levels/Flows) Over 420 Meteorologic Stations Over 420 Meteorologic Stations (AENV, EC, AAFRD, TransAlta, SRD) (AENV, EC, AAFRD, TransAlta, SRD) 117 Snow Course Locations 117 Snow Course Locations 15 Automated Snow Pillows 15 Automated Snow Pillows Most stations (except snow courses) report hourly data Currently takes two man days per day to QA/QC real-time data

5. Real-time Hydrometric Stations Over 350 currentlyOver 350 currently Stream, lake, reservoir levelsStream, lake, reservoir levels Satellite/phone linksSatellite/phone links

6. Real-time Meteorological Stations ~ 218 Federal and Provincial Hourly Data PrecipitationPrecipitation TemperatureTemperature Relative humidityRelative humidity Wind speedWind speed

7. Forestry Meteorological Stations ~ 190 stations~ 190 stations Mostly in northMostly in north Most report 2x-dailyMost report 2x-daily Some report 1x-dailySome report 1x-daily

8. Snow Course Sites 71 Plains 46 Mountain

9. Snow Pillows Snow Pillows 13 Mountain Sites13 Mountain Sites (new site at South Esk) (new site at South Esk) 3 Plains Area Sites 3 Plains Area Sites (new site in Swan Hills) (new site in Swan Hills) USES Snow-on-ground Snow-on-ground Snow / Rain indicators Snow / Rain indicators Melt rates Melt rates

10. Oldman River at Lethbridge – June 2005 How can UNSTABLE help? Variety of Flood Conditions Snowmelt Plains - March - April Plains - March - April Only smaller streams affected (Paddle, Battle, Vermilion, etc) Only smaller streams affected (Paddle, Battle, Vermilion, etc) Ice jams Ice jams Mountains - May - July Mountains - May - July No flooding of major rivers by mountain snowmelt alone No flooding of major rivers by mountain snowmelt aloneRainfall Affects all rivers in AlbertaAffects all rivers in Alberta Flooding along major rivers is caused by heavy rainfall or heavy rainfall during mountain snowmeltFlooding along major rivers is caused by heavy rainfall or heavy rainfall during mountain snowmelt

11. Contributions to UNSTABLE Current meteorological sites in area Current meteorological sites in area Proposed new sites for 2008 (approx. location) Proposed new sites for 2008 (approx. location)

12. Opportunities Alberta Environment will share all data in areaAlberta Environment will share all data in area Opportunity to put additional sensors at existing locations if requiredOpportunity to put additional sensors at existing locations if required Very interested in results of studyVery interested in results of study AENV is heavily reliant on accurate weather forecasting for their functionsAENV is heavily reliant on accurate weather forecasting for their functions

13. Questions? Near Barrhead – March 2007