An overview of river flood forecasting procedures in Canadian watersheds

This paper discusses flood forecasting procedures currently practiced at the Canadian provincial river flood forecast centers. In Canada, each province is responsible for collecting and managing meteorological and hydrometric data (through provincial authorities and/or under Federal/Provincial agreements), developing suitable hydrological models, and providing information about river discharge and water level to the public. In case of an extreme event such as flood or drought, the forecast center is responsible for issuing alerts and supporting provincial emergency management. Due to the large diversity in landscape, weather, and hydrological features across the country, extreme events are triggered by different mechanisms such as snowmelt, heavy rainfall, rain on snow, etc., at different times of the year. Each river forecast center deals with unique challenges in data collection, hydrologic/hydraulic modeling, and flood forecasting. Thus, the focus of the Center in planning for developments and future directions could be significantly different from one province to another. In this paper, the significance of river flood forecasting in Canada, as well as the development in hydrological modelling procedures are highlighted. Moreover, an overview of the current approaches for streamflow/flood forecasting used by the Centers is provided. The content presented here is an outcome of our interaction with the forecast centers. This further resulted in identifying a number of research questions to help bridge the gap between ongoing research and needs of the Centers.