Category: Field work

A dye tracing experiment was conducted at the Classen site in the La Salle River watershed on June 8th, 2015. Blue dye was applied to two plots and soil profiles were excavated three days later to reveal the flow pathways present in the thick clay soils of the area. After getting covered in blue dye… Continue reading New dye tracing experiment this summer

Summer students Madison Hutchinson and Laura Blunden have been sampling surface water in the La Salle River Watershed throughout the summer! This work was done as a collaboration between the Watershed Systems Research Program, the LaSalle Redboine conservation District and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. All samples - collected weekly - will be analyzed for nutrients… Continue reading La Salle River Watershed sampling in spring-summer 2015

Here is a quick update on our work in the Catfish Creek Watershed, near Pine Falls, MB, Canada: Cody Ross, MSc student, is currently conducting dye tracing experiments to assess the relative importance of overland flow and subsurface flow in the establishment of riparian-stream connectivity. The Catfish Creek Watershed is characterized by a near even… Continue reading 2015 Spring Freshet in the Catfish Creek Watershed

The Watershed Systems Research Program (WSRP) team had the great pleasure to host Merrin Macrae (University of Waterloo) for a 2-day visit on June 4-5, 2014. Merrin gave a seminar while she was here and provided us with a good overview of tile drainage impacts on hydrology and biogeochemistry from her network of Ontario sites.… Continue reading A visit from Merrin Macrae

With May upon us, the snowmelt has finally arrived at the Catfish Creek Watershed, and with it the 2014 field season. The past two weeks have brought the bulk of the freshet, straining our in-stream instruments and overtopping wells that are usually intended for measuring depth below the ground surface to the perched water table. In a… Continue reading Out with the snow, in with Field Season 2014!

Freeze-up came at the end of November in Catfish Creek Watershed, bringing a close to the 2013 field season. Water and weather monitoring instruments not designed for extreme low temperatures or in danger of being drifted over by snow were removed from the watershed through the month of November. In total, 26 perched water table… Continue reading Field season wraps up in the Catfish Creek Watershed…

It is very exciting to simulate rainfall and follow the water through different soil and bedrock layers... especially when the water is blue! Lauren Timlick successfully led a rainfall simulation and dye tracing experiment in the Steppler Watershed (South-Central Manitoba) on June 25th, 2013. Lauren's summer project focuses on subsurface flow patterns, especially preferential flow… Continue reading It is raining blue in Manitoba…