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«Network installation \-Full-Se« vice Consulting «Web Hosting »Computer Training * Searchable Business Directory! *Free Classified Ads! *News and Info about your community! #3 â€" 10 regina street n (519) 886.1099 www .madnefter.com madnetter@madnettercom the mad netter The GRCA is budget conscious ter managers alt Whe GRCA are very budget conscious. And we‘re not â€" talking money, here â€" it‘s to do The GRCA presents ‘Your Valley‘ By Dan SCHNEIDER For The Chronicle with a â€" more precious resource: water. Yet the parâ€" allels are there. Are we spending (0ops, using) more water than we are taking in? How much water do we have? Is our use of water in the Grand River watershed sustainable? "It‘s not much different than a financial budget," says Dwight Boyd, senior water resources engineer at the Grand River Conservation Authority. "If rainfall _ increases, your income goes up, and if rainâ€" fall decreases, your income goes down." Of course, these issues are critical. After all, our watershed â€" contains . the largest area in Canada that depends on groundwater and inland surface water for our needs. So we have a need to keep within our water budget. If we exceed it, we‘ll run short of water, and we‘ll find out exactly what water is worth â€" the hard way. The difficult part of this is predicting future needs in a changing â€" and â€" growing watershed â€" our population is projected to grow by 30 per cent over the next 25 years â€" and making sure we have a handle on the impact of this growth and change on our water supply. For example, what if we put housing in this area? What if this forest is cut down? What will happen to our water supply if industrial use douâ€" bles in this area? Obviously, like a financial budget, issues can get comâ€" plex, especially when proâ€" jecting into the future. To predict future water budâ€" gets, Boyd and his colâ€" leagues use a model, not the plastic and glue kind that I‘m more used to, but a theâ€" oretical, mathematical comâ€" puter model. All kinds of information has to be fed into it to get a prediction. Type of soil, landforms, weather, type of human use, forest cover, wetlands â€" everything that has an impact on how much water we have on the surface and especially underground. It is really tremendously compliâ€" cated. It‘s something like this... Water budgets tell us whether our use of water is sustainâ€" able. Developing water budgets using an engineering model will help us make sound water management decisions, protecting our critical liquid assets for future generations. Land use + forest cover + type of soil + landforms + What if we change the land use? It will likely change the prediction at the end of the formula. If we get a drought year, reduced rainâ€" fall will change the result. Some factars are more conâ€" stant, like soil type, but are still very important. rainfall + average temperaâ€" ture + water use + evaporaâ€" tion = our prediction for how much water is left. "Modeling helps us to scope out what the change in budget would be with changing conditions," conâ€" tinues Boyd. "It helps us and watershed _ municipalities with good water manageâ€" ment." Which, of course, â€" is tremendously important. In a watershed where we are almost entirely selfâ€"suffiâ€" cient on ground water and river water, we have to know if we are using too much. That‘s one reason that, in this region and at the GRCA, our â€" water _ modeling is among the best in the province. And what if a negative budget is predicted? In a sense, then we are living beyond our means. With a negative budget, our use of water exceeds what is availâ€" able. As with a financial budget, we‘re heading for trouble. In short, we wouldâ€" n‘t be using water sustainâ€" ably "Modeling allows us to look at what water is availâ€" able so we can live within our _ budget," _ concludes Boyd. "It will tell us how much water can be taken without taking too much, and drying up streams and wells." This information can then be passed on to waterâ€" shed municipalities. As our watershed changes and as our populaâ€" tion grows, wise use of our water resources becomes more and more critical Modeling to establish water budgets will help us all to make decisions based on sound water management.