GRCA report recommends renewed collaboration with U.S. army

For years, the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) has used the Grand River Flood Forecasting System (GRIFFS).

It was based on the Guelph All Weather Sequential Event Runoff (GAWSER) model, which was developed at the University of Guelph. But after questions about the long-term viability of the GRIFFS system popped up in 2016, the GRCA began a collaboration with United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to transition to the Americans’ HEC-HMS hydrologic modelling system.

The goal was to improve and modernize the GRCA’s flood prediction capabilities.

Work on enhancements to the system and the integration at the GRCA began, but then the pandemic hit. The lost hours because of COVID-19 and high staff turnover shelved the integration before all the enhancements could be added.

A report to be presented to the GRCA on Friday recommends that the collaboration be renewed. Specifically, the GRCA enter into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRDA) with the U.S. Army Engineering Research and Development Centre. Doing so, according to the report, would improve flood prediction, reservoir operations, and damage assessment.

Before the delays, the partnership had resulted in some enhancements to the system, including channel routing, infiltration modeling and baseflow routing.

The renewed collaboration would see key components like snowmelt modelling — something that will be particularly useful for the GRCA.

The partnership will come at a cost.

The agreement is valued at US$181,400 (about $252,000). It would be fully funded by the Ministry of Natural Resources through a special transfer payment to the GRCA.