Consortia Summary

CWN supports Communities of Practice that focus on specific areas of joint interest and identified priorities. They are self-sustaining functional networks of researchers, students, decision makers and managers in the water sector. These Communities of Practice collaborate, share ideas, find solutions and accelerate innovation. They are characterized by:

• a partnership including researchers, decision makers and practitioners with a shared commitment to science-based practical solutions to key issues;
  
  
• a platform for a national exchange of perspectives and expertise;
  
  
• a mechanism to create and diffuse effective knowledge and technology solutions; and
  
  
• a self-sustaining network supported by investment from the community.
  

Potential contributors to these diverse communities include knowledge providers in the broad research community, decision makers including policy, regulatory and water managers from utilities, watershed management groups and industry and the water technology and services industry.

Programs

Pathogens-In-Ground Water Consortium

These projects were chosen in response to a call for research projects to address the challenges of managing the complex issue of protecting groundwater supplies from pathogen threats. Provincial and local organizations responsible for developing source protection strategies recognized that advancement in science was needed to provide a more robust framework for determining what combinations of pathogen sources and aquifer conditions posed the most significant threats. These projects were chosen to advance the knowledge of pathogen behavior in different settings across Canada and to strengthen the decision making framework for protection of groundwater supplies.

• Pathogens in Groundwater Consortia Understanding Pathogen Transport and Survival in the Subsurface to Better Manage Groundwater Supplies and Risk of Contamination
  
  
• Pathogens in Bedrock Aquifers: A Detailed Study of the Presence and Transport of Pathogens in Urbanized Settings Having On-Site Waste Disposal and Private Bedrock Wells
  
  
• Characterization and modeling of pathogen risks in groundwater of First Nations communities

Canadian Municipal Water Management Research Consortium