(Event only in French)

Acfas conference: Water governance in an era of global change

On May 6 and 7, do not miss this conference, part of the 88th Congress of Acfas.

Symposium co-organized by the CentrEau group, the GREAUS research group and the CREATE-TEDGIEER program.

Preliminary program

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

• Session « Gestion de la qualité de l’eau pour les communautés nordiques en contexte de changements climatiques »
• Session « Approches de gestion éco-responsables des rejets pour une meilleure qualité de l’eau »
• Session « Impacts et adaptation liés au changement climatique sur les ressources en eau au Canada »

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Visit to the new experimental watershed at the Université de Sherbrooke
Visit to the Sherbrooke drinking water plant, a plant unique in North America because of its treatment system with membrane filtration

About the conference

Having, in sufficient quantity, good quality water in the face of the expected global changes (demographic, cultural, industrial, climatic, etc.) is at the heart of the concerns of the 21st century. The intensification of urbanization and industrial and agricultural activities have a direct effect on greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore on the acceleration of climate change, as well as on the deterioration of water quality. The introduction of increasingly complex effluents and the appearance in the environment of contaminants of emerging refractory interest in waters constitutes a recognized risk for human and environmental health. It is also expected that the floods, droughts and supply problems that exist due to the uneven distribution of water resources will become more frequent due to climate change.

With a view to sustainable development, it is becoming increasingly urgent to develop eco-responsible management approaches for water resources. The development of governance models to reduce risks and vulnerabilities is a solution in itself, but is based, among other things, on the quantification of anticipated changes in the hydrological regime of watersheds in the face of climate change, the development of adaptation strategies in view of these changes, the development of new analytical methods allowing the identification and quantification of contaminants of emerging interest, the development of hydrological forecasting systems capable of taking into account all the sources of uncertainty which intervene along the chain forecasting and development of technologies for water sanitation in extreme conditions.

The conference will offer an exceptional opportunity to share recent research results and to pool the expertise that is gradually developing in the themes mentioned above.