How Do Mountains Store Water? Dr. Masaki Hayashi and Sara Lilley, Department of Geoscience, University of CalgaryTuesday October 26, 2021 7:30 p.m.
This past summer’s heat dome led to extreme glacier melt in the Rockies. Dr. John Pomeroy took a Global News crew up to the Peyto Glacier to tell the story and CBC interviewed Glaciologist Brian Menousos about his research. How does this kind of extreme event impact lake and river levels for the rest of the year, and the years to follow? Once glaciers in the Rockies reach peak melt, where will the water come from to feed rivers like the Bow that millions of people downstream depend on? One of the pieces of the puzzle has to do with how alpine headwater basins store water, and some of the answers are surprising scientists.
Dr. Masaki Hayashi and University of Calgary graduate student Sara Lilley are studying the connections between groundwater, surface water, and atmospheric moisture in environments ranging from the prairies to the mountains. Lilley is investigating the sources and pathways of groundwater discharging at Watridge Karst Spring.