Open-Source Watershed Science


The Challenge

Governments, First Nations, non-profits, and stewardship organizations across British Columbia need reliable ways to understand their watersheds — whether they're planning restoration, assessing fish habitat, monitoring water quality, or responding to climate-driven changes. But the technical barriers are high. Critical information remains scattered across provincial databases, historic archives, and specialized models — difficult to assemble and overly dependent on outside specialists.


Who We Are

Our work combines field biology, spatial data science, and software development to facilitate aquatic ecosystem conservation and restoration — with an emphasis on inclusive engagement and knowledge sharing.


Our Approach

We understand our well-being as inseparable from the health of the land and waters we work within. When we care for ecosystems, we care for ourselves.

We work in the open because shared methods, shared tools, and shared findings are how we move the needle faster — on conservation and restoration, on understanding, on justice for the places and people we care about.

Working alongside stewardship organizations, First Nations, and agencies across BC, we connect provincial data, spatial analysis, field data collection, and reporting into a coherent workflow — stream network modelling, floodplain analysis, land cover change detection, nutrient loading, aquatic health monitoring, and interactive online reporting.

Our analytical tools, data, and methods are publicly available — so every project strengthens shared infrastructure, and every partnership compounds across watersheds and years.


How It Works

An integrated, open-source framework that connects provincial data, spatial analysis, field data collection, and innovative reporting.

fresh

Model any stream in BC

fresh (Freshwater Referenced Spatial Hydrology) — Query the provincial stream network, classify habitat, delineate watersheds, and model connectivity for any species.

link

Score and prioritize

link (Watershed Point Interpretation) — Match, score, and interpret any point data on the stream network — barriers, monitoring stations, sample sites, or traditional use locations.

flooded

Map the floodplain

flooded (Floodplain Delineation) — Delineate where rivers do geomorphic work — sediment storage, nutrient exchange, riparian recruitment. Using provincial LiDAR elevation data served through our catalog of over 50,000 tiles.

drift

Detect what's changed

drift (Detecting Riparian and Inland Floodplain Transitions) — Track land cover change inside floodplains over time using satellite imagery. Quantify where tree cover has been lost, where agriculture is expanding, and where riparian areas are degrading.

fly

Find the historic photos

fly (Airphoto Retrieval and Coverage Selection) — Download, georeference, and select from decades of historic aerial photographs — ground-truth current conditions against documented prior state.

cd

Assess climate trends

cd (Climate Departure) — Analyze temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture departures for any watershed using global reanalysis data.

field project

Build the field project

We assemble complete, field-ready GIS projects for any watershed — provincial datasets, habitat models, historic imagery, and digital field forms that write directly to provincial database formats. Deploy to mobile devices for collaborative offline collection.

reporting

Publish interactive reports and print-ready PDFs

One set of source files produces interactive online reports and print-ready PDFs — version-controlled, reproducible, and publicly accessible. When new data arrives, the report rebuilds.


What This Looks Like in Practice

Long-term programs where the system is in production — delivering results, building capacity, and advancing the tools with every project.

Our methods are open source. Transparent, reproducible, and built to share.

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