Water monitoring technology: our involvement in the FlowH20 pilot project

The following is an excerpt from our recently published information handout about the Columbia Basin Water Monitoring Collaborative and associated Columbia Basin Water Hub.

FlowH2O Pilot Project

Living Lakes Canada is a partner in FlowH2O, a Fresh Water Data Commons pilot project that aims to acquire, compile and process large amounts of water data in a flexible, cost-effective and scalable way to understand immediate water management needs.

Read the Project Announcement

With a suite of technologies that includes a digital platform, data sets and tools to utilize the data, FlowH20 will be able to digitize strategic water bodies in real time, ultimately providing a tool to help mitigate the effects of global water scarcity.

The pilot is partially funded by Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster and led by Carl Data Solutions and its subsidiaries Astra Smart Systems and i4C Innovation.

The FlowH2O pilot is a business model that includes the development and/or integration of tools. One of them is testing for efficiencies in a sub-basin water balance model. This is done by placing a system of collection devices (low-power, low-cost sensors and telemetry) that collect, store and analyze data in real-time together with aggregated existing data sources. The ultimate goal is to reach a 90%+ accuracy level on a real-time generated water balance report. This will be achieved by performing a comparative analysis with traditional water balance tools and looking at the level of accuracy of subsequent machine learning and artificial intelligence generated reports.

The pilot has an environmental DNA (eDNA) research component with the aim of determining the spatial extent of a select group of water or wetland-based target species. The eDNA can be captured by properly filtering a water sample and lab analysis. The data can offer more information for local restoration or monitoring projects while improving eDNA research techniques.

The technology and innovation developed for the FlowH2O pilot by its multiple partners, and its testing in the Columbia Basin through communities and water stewardship groups, heralds a new frontier in digital water management, positioning Canada at the forefront of water resource management excellence.

Pilot Project Partners

FlowH2O is a consortium of six organizations that was formed in 2019 with support of Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster:

• • • • • • Carl Data Solutions and its subsidiaries i4C Innovation and Astra Smart Systems
          • Living Lakes Canada
          • Teck Resources
          • University of Victoria
          • Genome BC
          • Microsoft