alberta innovates

alberta innovates

canadian crown corporation, funded by the govt - also includes CFER tech and innotech

funding and coaching, engineering and testing and applied research

natural resource scope of alberta innovates

agriculture and food innovation, sustainable materials, environmental innovation

clean energy - advanced hydrocarbons, clean technologies

over 300 active projects, massive funding and investments, huge potentials in GHG emission reduction

environmental innovation

supporting investments leading to conservation and stewardship

land and biodiv solutions from reclamation, tailings, and monitoring

water innovation from management, healthy ecosystems, water technologies, and quality protection

ab water challenges and opportunities

gaps to invest research in

drought and flooding, pressures from resource extraction/food production/ urban expansion

water use/reuse/quality

invasive species, contaminants, climate change resilience and adaptation

water in alberta

not where the people are

87% of water and 13% of demand (11% of pop) is in northern watersheds

but 13% of the water, 87% of demand (89% of pop) is in oldman and bow river basins

global economic risks

short term includes more societal, technological risks like conflicts, cyber warfare, human rights, inequality, etc

long term is dominated by environmental impacts like ecosystem collapse, extreme weather, natural resource shortage, and additionally adverse AI outcomes etc

environmental liability

underground, underestimated or costs being deferred

for example pond 1, our first tailing pond is considered reclaimed but still has underground problems and contamination for sure

water works has many underground and underestimated costs

so solutions to these challenges must be cost effective

evolving science and practices

investing money without confirmation of a solution - as seen in tailings pond research - safe to release? scientists disagree, even tho the tech is there

another example is disease in wood buffalo park bison, scientists had opposing views over interference or natural selecrtion

or wildfires having a bigger impacts than forestry in our mountain headwaters

climate change mitigation vs adaptation

mitigation is easy to discuss, CO2 is perfect to be the only issue

and its easy to measure, respond, lay out costs, etc

but adaptations to increasing flood and drought risk, mountain pine beetle and fires becomes harder to measure, discuss, etc

water for life

water innovation program, describing future water supply and watershed management

water use conservation efficiency and productivity

healthy aquatic ecosystems and water quality protection

water innovation program projects

mountain climate hydrology - headwaters

forest disturbance, water quantity/quality, from fire to harvesting, BMPs

land use and land cover changes - climate models and forecasting water supply changes

infrastructure, impacts from fires etc

climate models related to tree growth, living models

river basin flow from tree data

able to see changes in s sask river flow estimated from tree rings

water resources are not stationary and ever changing, our floods and droughts past 100 years are actually pretty normal - can get much worse

since 1100 AD we have experienced long term and extreme

understanding past to predict the future - stories match the data

source water protection

impact - managing forests to min risk, manage technology to address residuals

drinking water safety plans

post-fire/harvest impacts

using best forest management practices, with limited impacts on water quality

older practices, and large fires has major/magnified impacts

alignment with bmps and source water protection

example fort mac post wildfire

water treatment post fire carries significant costs

normal monitoring not designed for impacts

since fire have observed nutrient spikes, algae blooms, millions cost, cyanobacteria found but luckily no cyanotoxins found

climate and stakeholder modelling

predicting and adapting to changing water, different growing seasons, etc - due to earlier and reduced snowmelt peak tax

addressing issues like current management and allocation, emerging issues with climate change, long term changes, what if questions, etc

s sask river adaptation project

range of adaptation strategies

operational changes to existing infrastructure, investment in natural infrastructure (ex beavers, wetlands), planning and preparedness, investment in new infrastructure, demand management - changing use, adapting policy and practices

influences on volume available and ecological impacts

s sask current projects

ghost reservoir dam to protect calgary from flooding and droughts

chin reservoir expansion - more storage of water

new studies to see feasibility of new dams in southern ab

functional flows - healthy rivers

case study of st mary river and how healthy it is upstream of water diversions vs downstream

impacts of human alterations on riparian forests dependent on flooding

cottonwoods require certain peak flows, need operational control to encourage seedling development

riparian forests actually stored water in calgary and made 2013 flooding worse downtown

recovery technologies

zero water extraction - on way to net zero

microwaving ab’s oil sands to reduce water use, high press and high temp high membrane tech insitu oil sands

emerging hydrogen economy

kitsim green H2 project

under contract with water allocation in bow river

keep co2 underground and use h2 as energy - but needs water

our water availability is limiting projects such as these

stormwater kidney

stormwater treatment system constructed to demonstrate effective low power recirculation flow through a treatment wetland to manage pathogenic organisms/nutrients

pilot for new water reuse guidelines

biofiltered water has range of usage

H2nanO

hybrid passive solar wetlands water treatment process for energy industry effluents

building a photocatalytic wetland treatment system at oil sands mine

reduces emissions, chemical and waste residuals

started in 2024

RL for drinking water

optimizing treatment with reinforcement learning/AI

currently starting operations/testing in drayton valley, optimizing energy usage and lowering costs

track and respond to fluctuation source water quality

but what about costs and benefits to ai use?

intellirain

micro-precision irrigation system

advancing pivot irrigation tech - virtual real time soil moisture sensor, advanced AI to adjust irrigation requirements, user friendly interface

results in 34% of water saved, 13% yield increase

calls to action/reconciliation

NAIT - indigenous community based monitoring, applied research and training

water car co - remote treatment tech

various communities and major companies focussing on restoration using plants of cultural significance

calls to action and natural scientists