Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

Accurate information about how much water flows through our rivers is essential for planning of hydropowerx000D
production, drinking water supply, flood management, and ensuring a sound habitat for Salmonids and otherx000D
fish. In steep mountain streams, many of the techniques that are used to determine the streamflow are not easyx000D
to perform. One of the techniques that does give a good estimate of the streamflow is salt dilution gauging. Inx000D
this technique, a known small quantity of ordinary kitchen salt is added to the river. A few hundred metersx000D
downstream, it is then measured how salty the water is, by measuring how easily it conducts electricity. Thex000D
less salty the water is, the more water was flowing through the stream diluting the salt. With some calculationsx000D
the quantity of water flowing through the stream can be determined quite accurately.x000D
How accurately the estimates are is currently a source of debate. Since important decisions depend on it, wex000D
want to know how accurate this method is in various circumstances (for example flood flows or low flowsx000D
during a dry summer), and how the accuracy depends on the quantity of salt added.x000D
In this research we will develop better methods to put a number on the accuracy of the measurements, so thatx000D
data collected in many small streams can be confidently added to the database of information about ourx000D
streams. This benefits many sectors and allows us to keep a sharp eye on one of our most precious naturalx000D
resources.