Grant: Strategic Network Grants Program

In Canada, floods are recognized as the most common, largely distributed natural hazard to life, property,*economy, community/industry water systems, and the environment. The main objective of the proposed*NSERC Canadian FloodNet is to create a vehicle for a concerted nation-wide effort to improve knowledge on*flood processes and their impacts, and enhance flood forecasting and management capacity in Canada. This is a*particularly challenging task because of the large diversity of geographical and hydro-climatic conditions in*Canada, but feasible through the creation of a structured research network that brings together*scientists/experts, users/operational forecasters, and the private sector to tackle the complex and fundamental*research questions and the technological gaps that need to be addressed in order to significantly enhance flood*forecasting and management in Canada. NSERC Strategic Network facilitating collaborative work between*universities, federal/provincial agencies and private sector, is the best approach to optimize resources and*expertise to address the growing issue of floods in Canada. Some of the key research tasks include (i)*Analyzing and characterizing extreme events (floods and storms) across Canada; (ii) Quantifying and reducing*predictive uncertainty of floods; (iii) Developing an advanced flood alert system for Canada; (iv) Assessing*physical, socio-economic, and environmental impacts of floods to enhance flood management policies in*Canada. Currently, no advanced flood alert system similar to the one in Europe (European Flood Awareness*System) or in the US (Advanced Hydrologic Prediction System) is available for operational use in Canada.*FloodNet will fill this gap by pooling together resources and best expertise from academia and industry to*develop the Canadian advanced flood alert system. The direct benefits of enhanced flood forecasts and*management are tremendous and include the reduced cost of damages, the protection of people and livestock,*the reduction of socio-economic impacts and human distress, and the protection of community water systems and the environment.