Provincial Flood Forecasting and Warning Workshop

The Provincial Flood Forecasting and Warning Committee (PFFWC), in collaboration with Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and Conservation Ontario, is pleased to announce that the 2024 Provincial Flood Forecasting and Warning Workshop will be held in person at the Pearson Convention Centre in Brampton, Ontario.

Dates: Tuesday, October 1 and Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Pearson Convention Centre, 2638 Steeles Ave East, Brampton, ON L6T 4L7

This workshop is a valuable training opportunity for key staff with responsibilities related to flood.

Please note: This workshop is currently closed to private consultants. It is aimed at staff from conservation authorities and provincial, federal, municipal, and regional employees involved in flood forecasting and warning.

Registration

Registration is currently open, offering access to a comprehensive two-day workshop. The ticket price is $250.00, inclusive of snacks and two full hot meals.

Registration closes on September 20, 2024.

To register multiple attendees:

Click “Book Now”
Press “Continue”
Fill in the details for the first registrant
To add additional attendees, click “+ Add to Booking”

Cancellation Policy: Cancellations made after the deadline (September 10, 2024) may incur a cancellation fee equivalent to 50% of the registration fee. For cancellations made within seven days of the workshop start date or for no-shows, the full registration fee will be charged, and no refunds will be issued.

About the Workshop

The workshop is organized by the PFFWC and is hosted by Conservation Ontario and 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.

Agenda

DAY ONE*

Morning Session: Hurricane Hazel Reflection

The morning session will feature the historical context and meteorological insights surrounding Hurricane Hazel.
The break will provide networking opportunities.
A storms exposé presentation will conclude this session.

Lunch will be provided.

Afternoon Session: Community Resilience and Disaster Preparedness

After lunch, the focus will shift to community resilience and disaster preparedness. Presentations will cover disaster preparedness plans, Indigenous initiatives, and dam emergency plans.
The afternoon will include a discussion on atmospheric rivers and an analysis of past flood events.
The afternoon break will provide further opportunity for networking.

DAY TWO*

Morning Session: Flood Forecasting and Warning

The morning session will include presentations on advancements in flood forecasting tools, innovations challenges in hydrometric data collection, and the use of hydraulic modeling for flood warning systems.
Attendees will have the opportunity to network during a morning break.

Lunch will be provided.

Afternoon Session: Municipal Flood Projects and Response

The afternoon will focus on municipal flood projects and response strategies. Topics will include collaborative partnership projects, community response strategies, and city flood protection initiatives.
The day will conclude with a multi-risk flood mapping tool presentation.

*Final agenda to be confirmed closer to the workshop dates.

Accommodations

Regrettably, we are unable to secure on-site accommodations. The following are hotels located near the Pearson Convention Centre:

Hilton Garden Inn Toronto/Brampton
2648 Steeles Avenue East, Brampton, ON L6S 6J9
Distance: Adjacent to the Pearson Convention Centre (Closest option)

Courtyard by Marriott Toronto Brampton
90 Biscayne Crescent, Brampton, ON L6W 4S1
Distance: Approximately 2.5 kilometers

Monte Carlo Inn – Brampton Suites
45 Coventry Road, Brampton, ON L6T 4V7
Distance: Approximately 1.8 kilometers

Hampton Inn by Hilton Brampton
8710 The Gore Road, Brampton, ON L6P 0B1
Distance: Approximately 7.5 kilometers

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Brampton
10 Nevets Road, Brampton, ON L6T 5T2
Distance: Approximately 1.6 kilometers

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.

VIEW THE PRESENTATIONS NOW

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
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