Grant: Alliance Grants

The overarching goal of this partnership between four universities, Rio Tinto, the Cheslatta Carrier Nation and the British Columbia Department of the Environment is to link reservoir management operations to critical fish habitat information in the context of climate change. The case-study will be the Nechako River drainage basin in British Columbia, where the industrial partner operates an important dam facility. One key original factor in the project is the fact that it focuses on two key, albeit very different fish species : Chinook salmon and white sturgeon and that it will use a suite of modelling tools in conjunction with field experiments to achieve the following specific objectives: 1) Improve snow accumulation and snowmelt modelling; 2) Investigate the role of teleconnections, snowpack/snowmelt and summer temperature; 3) Investigate habitat selection and thermoregulation by Chinook salmon and white sturgeon; and 4) Develop models for thermal refuges in the Nechako system.