Registration for the 2023 Ontario Flood Forecasting and Warning Workshop (OFFWW) is closed. Thank you to the presenters and attendees.
About the Workshop
The workshop is organized by the Provincial Flood Forecasting and Warning Committee and is hosted by Conservation Ontario and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA).
The goal of the workshop is to provide links between agencies responsible for flood forecasting and warning, emergency management, flow measurement and data collection, as well as other partners, to address policy and implementation needs and issues, and to facilitate training.
Questions?
For more information, please contact Rhianydd Phillips: Rhianydd.phillips@trca.ca.
Previous Workshops
2023 Flood Forecasting and Warning Workshop
All presentations are available on the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) extranet.
Workshop Agenda
TIME | PRESENTATION TITLE | PRESENTER NAME |
DAY 1: September 18th, 2023 | ||
9:00 a.m. | Registration and Light Refreshments | |
9:30 a.m. |
Welcome Address: – Dave Burritt, Supervisor, Surface Water Monitoring Centre – Jennifer Barton, Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry – Angela Coleman, General Manager of Conservation Ontario – John MacKenzie, Chief Executive Officer, TRCA |
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9:45 a.m. | Keynote Address: End-to-End Early Warning Systems for Flood Forecasting | William Scharffenberg, Member, Standing Committee on Hydrological Services at World Meteorological Organization |
10:45 a.m. | BREAK | |
11:00 a.m. | The Value of Collaboration in Advancing Prediction | Jacob Bruxer, National Hydrological Service, Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Government of Canada |
11:30 a.m. | Seasonal Weather Outlook | Jerry Shields, Weather Systems Coordinator, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry |
12:00 p.m. | LUNCH | |
1:00 p.m. | Hydrometric Monitoring and Maintenance: WSC Technician 101 | Sean Clarkson, Hydrometric Technologist, Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada |
1:30 p.m. | Calibrating All Weather Precipitation Monitoring | Katelyn Lynch, Manager of Water Infrastructure, Grand River Conservation Authority |
2:00 p.m. | Snow Surveys: Unravelling Winter’s Blanket | Robert Metcalfe, Research Scientist, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry |
2:30 p.m. | BREAK | |
3:00 p.m. | Surface Water Monitoring Centre – Foundational Tools and Resources | Iryna Shulyarenko, Surface Water Monitoring Centre, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry |
3:30 p.m. | River Ice Break-Up Forecasting Procedure | Jeff Wong, Senior Water Operations Engineer, Credit Valley Conservation |
4:00 p.m. | WORKSHOP ENDS | |
DAY 2 | ||
8:30 a.m. | Creating a Daily Planning Cycle (DPC) | Angela Mills, Water Resources Specialist, North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority |
9:00 a.m. | Enhancing the Daily Planning Cycle (DPC): How to Use KIWIS/APIs in the Daily Planning Cycle | Justin Robert, Hydrometric Data Coordinator, Rideau Valley Conservation Authority |
9:30 a.m. | Data Sharing Platforms: Perspectives Across North America (Enhancing the Daily Planning Cycle) | Amber Langmuir, Water Resources Engineer, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry | Mike McNiven, Senior Engineer, Ontario Power Generation | Steve Elgie, Regional Sales and Support Manager, Kisters |
10:00 a.m. | BREAK | |
10:30 a.m. | Flood Forecasting and Warning Communication System | Rhianydd Phillips, Communications Coordinator, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) |
11:00 a.m. | Shifting Precipitation Patterns and its impacts on Reservoir Operations and Flood Forecasting and Warning (FFW) | Vahid Taleban, Senior Engineer, Grand River Conservation Authority |
11:30 a.m. | Canada One Project with Aquanty | Katherine Watson, Water Resources Specialist, South Nation Conservation | Steven Frey, Senior Scientist, Director, Aquanty |
12:00 p.m. | LUNCH | |
1:00 p.m. | General Lessons Learned through Flood Events | Lorrie Minshall, Special Projects, Long Point Region Conservation Authority |
1:30 p.m. | Lessons Learned from the Winnipeg River Basin in 2022 | Elizabeth Jamieson, Acting Executive Engineer, Lake of the Woods Secretariat |
2:00 p.m. | BREAK | |
2:15 p.m. | The Power of Caring for Ourselves and Our Teams: Mental Wellness in support of our responsibilities for Flood Forecasting, Warning and Emergency Management | Sharon Bak, Emergency Management Professional |
3:00 p.m. | Effective Operational Emergency Planning for Vulnerable Populations in Flood Forecasting and Warning | Patricia Martel, Manager, Emergency Management, CEMC, Niagara Region |
3:30 p.m. | SURVEY COMPLETION PRIZE DRAW AND WORKSHOP WRAP-UP |
2022 Flood Forecasting and Warning Workshop
The 2022 series featured five streams:
STREAM ONE: Keynote Kickoff
Wednesday September 28, 2022
10:00 a.m. | Flood Forecasting in British Columbia: Operational Perspectives and Recent Case Studies Presenter: David Campbell, Head of the River Forecast Centre, Integrated Resource Operations, Water Management, Ministry of Forests, Government of British Columbia |
11:00 a.m. | Everything Everywhere All at Once: A Review of Manitoba’s 2022 Flood Presenter: Dr. Fisaha S. Unduche, Executive Director of Hydrologic Forecasting and Water Management, Government of Manitoba |
VIEW THE RECORDED WEBINAR
STREAM TWO: Experience and Learnings
Wednesday October 12, 2022
10:00 a.m. | Churchville Ice Jam Flood 2022 (Pre-recorded) Presenter: Graeme MacDonald, Water Resources Engineer, Credit Valley Conservation |
10:30 a.m. | Flood Forecasting in Québec Presenter: Dominic Roussel, Flood Forecasting Team Lead, Ministry of the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change (Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques), Government of Quebec |
11:00 a.m. | Ontario Weather 2022 Summary – A Look Back, A Look Ahead Presenter: Jerry Shields, Weather Systems Coordinator, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry |
VIEW THE RECORDED WEBINAR
STREAM THREE: Advancements in Technology and Forecasting
Wednesday October 26, 2022
10:00 a.m. | Update on ECCC’s user-focused hydrologic prediction products and services initiative Presenter: Jacob Bruxer, National Hydrological Service, Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Government of Canada |
Discover, access and apply ECCC hydrologic prediction products with practical demonstrations Presenter: Natalie Gervasi, National Hydrological Service, Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Government of Canada |
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11:00 a.m. | The Ontario Lake Routing Project Presenter: Bryan Tolson, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo |
VIEW THE RECORDED WEBINAR
STREAM FOUR: Networks and Networking
Wednesday November 9, 2022
10:00 a.m. | Collaborating on Flood Risk Assessment in Eastern Ontario Co-presenters: Dave Crossman, GIS Coordinator, Rideau Valley Conservation Authority & Katherine Watson, Water Resources Specialist, South Nation Conservation Authority |
11:00 a.m. | 2021 Flood Forecasting and Warning Survey from Surface Water Monitoring Centre, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry/Environment and Climate Change Canada Presenter: Dave Burritt, Supervisor, Surface Water Monitoring Centre, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry |
11:30 a.m. | High End of The Rating Curve Using Hydraulic Models Presenter: Derrick Beach, Engineer, Technical and Data Services, Hydrology Operations East, Ontario, Monitoring and Data Services Directorate, Meteorological Service of Canada |
VIEW THE RECORDED WEBINAR
STREAM FIVE: Emergency Management and Communications
Wednesday November 23, 2022
10:00 a.m. | Business Continuity During Disruptive Events – Panel discussion covering lessons learned from the Rogers outage, Ottawa tornado, the May 23 derecho, and more!
Panelists: |
11:00 a.m. | Communicating Weather Uncertainty On All Hazards Presenter: Gerald Cheng, Warning Preparedness Meteorologist, Environment and Climate Change Canada |
11:30 a.m. | Alert Ready for Dam Emergencies Presenters: Rita Lucero, Manager, Flood Emergency Management, Development and Engineering Services, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and Heather Bridger, Operations Officer, Emergency Management Ontario |
12:00 p.m. | Evolution of Flood Forecasting and Warning & A Look Ahead Presenter: Dwight Boyd, Retired Director of Engineering, Grand River Conservation Authority |
VIEW THE RECORDED WEBINAR
2021 Flood Forecasting and Warning Workshop
The 2021 series featured five streams:
STREAM ONE: Keynote Kickoff
Wednesday September 22, 2021
PRESENTATIONS:
TITLE | PRESENTER(S) |
---|---|
Keynote Address: Unthinkable: The Western Canada Heatwave of June-July 2021 | Geoff Coulson, retired Warning Preparedness Meteorologist |
Advances in Hydrological Forecasting in Canada | Alain Pietroniro, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary |
VIEW THE RECORDED WEBINAR:
STREAM TWO: Experiences and Learnings
Wednesday October 6, 2021
PRESENTATIONS:
TITLE | PRESENTER(S) |
---|---|
The Art and Science of Far North River Surveillance: Past, Present, and Future | Ken Corston, Resource Liaison Specialist, and Samantha McTeer, Resource Management Technician, Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry |
The Gales of November Come Callin’ – Lake Erie Flooding Event | Scott Robertson, Senior Water Resources Engineer Grand River Conservation Authority |
Kenora District Dam Operations and Flood Response | James Williams, Integrated Resources Management Technical Specialist, Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry |
2021 Freshet: Ontario Waterways | Anna Ciorap, Water Management Manager, Ontario Waterways Unit, Parks Canada |
VIEW THE RECORDED WEBINAR:
STREAM THREE: Advancements in Technology and Hydrometrics
Wednesday October 20, 2021
PRESENTATIONS:
TITLE | PRESENTER(S) |
---|---|
Toward User-focused Hydrologic Prediction Products and Services in Canada | Jacob Bruxer, Regulation Representative (Canada), International Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Board |
HydroMaster | Vahid Taleban, Water Resources Engineer, Grand River Conservation Authority, and Steve Jackson, Water Resources Engineer, Maitland Valley Conservation Authority |
August 2014 Flood: Operations Modernization | Benjamin O’Reilly, Flood Forecasting & Operations Technologist, Conservation Halton |
VIEW THE RECORDED WEBINAR:
STREAM FOUR: Advancements and Changes
Wednesday November 3, 2021
PRESENTATIONS:
TITLE | PRESENTER(S) |
---|---|
Assessing the State of Snow Monitoring in Ontario | Max DeBues, Hydrologist, and Robert Metcalfe, Research Scientist, Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry |
Advances in Hydrological Forecasting at OPG with Delft-FEWS & Raven | Matt MacDonald, Engineer, Water Resources, Ontario Power Generation |
Using Artificial Intelligence for Hydrological Modelling of Great Lakes Watersheds | Bryan Tolson, Professor, and Juliane Mai, Research Assistant Professor, University of Waterloo |
Flood Forecasting and Warning: Conservation Authorities Act Mandatory Programs and Services | Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry, Water Resources Policy |
VIEW THE RECORDED WEBINAR:
STREAM FIVE: Emergency Management and Communications
Wednesday November 17, 2021
PRESENTATIONS:
TITLE | PRESENTER(S) |
---|---|
Weather in Emergency Management | Jerry Shields, Weather Systems Coordinator, Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry |
Fostering Emergency Preparedness | Patricia Martel, Manager, Emergency Management, CEMC, Niagara Region |
Site-Specific Flood Risk Packages | Rita Lucero, Manager, Flood Emergency Management, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) |
VIEW THE RECORDED WEBINAR:
2020 Flood Forecasting and Warning Workshop
The 2020 series featured five streams:
STREAM 1: A Year in Review and a Look Ahead Wednesday September 16, 2020 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. |
Welcome from Ann Marie Weselan, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) |
PRESENTERS:
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This session is now closed. View the recorded webinar: |
STREAM 2: Recent Experiences and Learnings Wednesday September 30, 2020 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. |
PRESENTERS:
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This session is now closed. View the recorded webinar: |
STREAM 3: Advancements in Technology and Hydrometrics Wednesday October 14, 2020 10:00 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. |
PRESENTERS:
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This session is now closed. View the recorded webinar: |
STREAM 4: Policy and MNRF Advancements Wednesday October 28, 2020 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. |
PRESENTERS:
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This session is now closed. View the recorded webinar: |
STREAM 5: Communications Thursday November 12, 2020 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. |
PRESENTERS:
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This session is now closed. View the recorded webinar: |
2019 Flood Forecasting and Warning Workshop
The Provincial Flood Forecasting and Warning Committee (PFFWC) presented the 2019 Flood Forecasting and Warning Workshop on September 18, 2019.
Presentations