Julie Terry, John-Mark Davies, Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt (2022). Buffalo Pound Lake - A collaborative strategy to modelling a key water resource. Proceedings of the GWF Annual Open Science Meeting, May 16-18, 2022.

This work is designed in discussion with the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency (WSA), and models Buffalo Pound Lake, a eutrophic reservoir in Saskatchewan, Canada. The reservoir provides the water demands for approximately 25% of the Saskatchewan population. Water quality issues remain a challenge, and the reservoir has persistent problems with poor water quality and harmful algal blooms. This study tests the impact of interbasin water transfers, of better quality water, on the water quality of Buffalo Pound after the reservoir receives a large volume of poor-quality water from watershed runoff. We test different timing and flow transfer rates with a hypothesis that water quality will be improved in Buffalo Pound. Through model scenarios, we determine that some, but not all water quality variables will improve in the reservoir with the water transfers. We also ascertain that diverting as much water at once it not always the best plan of action for obtaining water quality goals. As the provincial water management agency, the WSA has been provided with the opportunity to refine the scope of the model development and scenarios to address pertinent questions about water diversion strategy. The result is a model that satisfies both stakeholder and scientific objectives. Treatment and processing costs are also high for the on-site Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant. Current activities are incorporating scenarios as suggested by the treatment plant as well as the WSA. With this work we are bridging the needs of the end user and water quality modelling.

First Author: Julie Terry (GIWS, U of Saskatchewan)
Additional Authors: John-Mark Davies (Saskatchewan Water Security Agency), Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt (GIWS, U of Saskatchewan)