What Fieldwork Do We Do?

For the first part of the summer, much of our fieldwork has been taking place at Castle Mountain Resort and at the University of Lethbridge’s West Castle Field Station in the valley below. The drive takes about an hour and a half from Lethbridge, and each trip usually involves a full day of carrying equipment, installing sensors, collecting measurements, and troubleshooting whatever the mountain decides to throw at us.

Our goal is to understand how water moves through this mountain landscape, from snow accumulation and melt, into the soil and shallow groundwater, and eventually downstream into the river. To do this, we are installing a network of soil-moisture sensors, shallow groundwater wells, infiltration measurements, and air-temperature sensors across an elevation gradient stretching from the valley bottom to near the mountain ridge.

By comparing conditions at different elevations, we hope to better understand where water is stored, how quickly it moves, and how those patterns change throughout the season. We are also measuring streamflow and monitoring stream temperature at several locations.

In partnership with the Bogard Aquatic Biochemistry Lab, we are expanding this work to include water-quality indicators, allowing us to examine not only how much water is moving through the system, but also how its characteristics change along the way.

This is a new research site for our group, and I am excited to see the monitoring network beginning to take shape. I am especially grateful to the Castle Mountain Resort team, who have facilitated our access, helped us navigate the site, and been incredibly supportive of our research.