River-to-Wetland Surface Water Connectivity in a Cold Region Deltaic Ecosystem

English Abstract:

The Peace-Athabasca Delta (PAD) is a deltaic lake/wetland ecosystem of international importance (Ramsar & World Heritage site). This 6000 km², low-relief delta, which formed at the confluence of the Peace, Athabasca and Birch rivers, contains more than 1000 lake/wetland basins with varying degrees of connectivity to the main flow system. Wetland hydroperiod is influenced by occasional ice-jam and open-water inundations that recharge the basins. Prior studies have identified pathways of river-to-wetland floodwater connection as a key knowledge gap, limiting our knowledge of deltaic ecosystem status. To address this gap, surface elevation mapping of approximately 1000 km² of the PAD was conducted during the summers of 2012 and 2013 using aerial remote sensing LiDAR. The surveyed areas contain 12 critical wetland monitoring sites where ground-based water level/depth, water quality, and aquatic ecology have been monitored for the past three years. The goal of this presentation is to present our assessment of surface water connectivity for select PAD wetland sites and outline an approach to integrate this newly available physical information into a novel aquatic ecosystem observation system for cold regions deltaic wetlands.