Water Stewardship

We help clients along every step of their water stewardship journey through the application of industry-standard, practical approaches, and science-based innovative solutions.

Overview

The Water Stewardship Team at Falkirk is equipped to serve our clients in the resource sector by helping them along every step of their water stewardship journey, through the application of industry-standard, practical approaches and science-based innovative solutions. The team can help with operations, strategy, or engagement on water-related issues and work with clients across corporate and site-levels to integrate insightful and informed water-related data analytics and metrics into their sustainability strategy, improving efficiencies and helping them to set and achieve robust environmental and social water stewardship goals. The team has experience with water-related services throughout the regulatory approvals process including environmental assessments and permitting applications.

Highlights
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Team members have been integral to the multi-site, watershed-scale, decision-making model underpinning Teck’s Elk Valley Water Quality Plan for over a decade (since 2012).

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Several decades of combined experience in leading water quality monitoring studies and assessments across Canada.

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Our growing team is sought after for its proven expertise in dynamic simulation modelling (GoldSim®), data analytics and visualization (R).

“The Water Stewardship Team at Falkirk is equipped to serve our clients in the resource sector by helping them along every step of their water stewardship journey.”

Services

Some of the typical services offered by the team in support of the Environmental Assessment and Permitting Team include:

  • Senior technical direction of aquatics components of complex regulatory applications;
  • Characterization of existing conditions (baseline studies and monitoring programs);
  • Gap analyses;
  • Environmental effects assessments;
  • Site water balance models, including development and third-party reviews;
  • Catchment-based water balance and water quality models;
  • Mitigation planning and design, including scenario analyses;
  • Evaluating effluent discharge and assimilative capacity studies;
  • Best available technology assessments for water treatment;
  • Conceptual water management plans in support of mine planning, project descriptions, pre-feasibility studies, and feasibility studies;
  • Water management plans;
  • Closure water management plans; and
  • Water licensing.

The Water Stewardship Team also supports our Environmental Management and Compliance team by leading water-related studies and writing technical reports to meet permit requirements and help sites achieve their compliance goals, including:

  • Annual water monitoring reports;
  • Initial dilution zone and water mixing zone studies;
  • Water infrastructure compliance assessments;
  • Climate resiliency assessments;
  • ESG reporting;
  • Data analytics and visualization; and
  • GIS analysis.

The Water Stewardship Team is experienced and highly skilled in developing, maintaining, and updating water balance and water quality modelling of complex mine sites with support from a multi-disciplinary team of dedicated modellers, data scientists, hydrogeologists, GIS analysts, water quality scientists, hydrologists, water resources engineers, and water treatment specialists. The team continues to grow its expertise in other key service areas including climate change, geochemistry, risk assessments, and closure and reclamation.

Project Team

Apurva Gollamudi
01 / 05
Apurva Gollamudi
Hydrologist, Water Stewardship Practice Lead

As an experienced water resources engineer, Apurva brings 16 years of combined engineering, environmental consulting, international development, and applied research experience to Falkirk.

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Ryan Burgess
01 / 05
Ryan Burgess
Water Stewardship Advisor, Project Engineer, and Business Development Lead

Ryan is a registered Professional Engineer with over a decade of experience in resource extraction industries, with a particular focus on water infrastructure in industrial and resource extraction scenarios.

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Erik Skeries
01 / 05
Erik Skeries
Water Quality Modelling Lead

Erik is an environmental scientist with over ten years of combined industry, government, and consulting experience in Ontario, Alberta, and BC.

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Jonathan Love
01 / 05
Jonathan Love
Senior Water Quality Scientist

Jonathan is a water quality specialist with more than ten years of professional experience in surface water quality monitoring. He has specialist skills in field water quality assessment and data evaluation as part of aquatic effects monitoring programs in Northern Canada.

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Bofu Li
01 / 05
Bofu Li
Water Modelling and Data Science Specialist

Bofu is a Water Modelling and Data Science Specialist. He has 10 years’ experience specializing in water/wastewater quality treatment and modelling.

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Tammy Hua
01 / 05
Tammy Hua
Hydrogeologist and GIS Analyst

Tammy is a hydrogeologist with a Master of Science from McMaster University and expertise in Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

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Shelby Andrews
01 / 05
Shelby Andrews
Water Resources Specialist

Shelby is a water resources specialist with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Guelph.

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Lianna Smith
01 / 05
Lianna Smith
Geochemist

Lianna is a registered Professional Geoscientist with over 15 years’ experience in the mining industry, supporting operations and closure planning from within mining companies and as geochemistry consultant and water quality modeler. She has developed site-specific, predictive geochemistry models, and excels at designing and implementing multi-disciplinary, research-based mine geochemistry projects to address operational challenges and to support regulatory requirements.

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Jacob MacLaine
01 / 05
Jacob MacLaine
Geochemist/Water Quality Specialist

Jacob is a professional geoscientist (Alberta) with over five years experience in environmental consulting, with project experience spanning Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and South America. Most recently, his focus has been assisting clients expand their understanding of the geochemical risks at their sites and manage those risks through mass balance modelling. This includes supporting geochemical characterization programs, conducting water quality assessments, development of geochemical source terms and mine site conceptual models.

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Apurva Gollamudi
Ryan Burgess
Erik Skeries
Jonathan Love
Bofu Li
Tammy Hua
Shelby Andrews
Lianna Smith
Jacob MacLaine
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Ryan Burgess

Water Stewardship Advisor, Project Engineer, and Business Development Lead

Project Profiles

Teck Coal Sites in the Elk Valley

Client — Teck Resources Limited

Teck has engaged Falkirk to provide water quality modelling and technical reporting services for several projects. Among ongoing projects, Falkirk is involved in the CG5 rehandle waste removal Project in support of determination of effects for a Notice of Departure Self-Assessment. Falkirk has also recently initiated a project offering its water quality modelling services for the Upper Fording River’s Reasonably Foreseeable Development (RFD) Case. Falkirk is currently subcontracted to SRK Consulting Ltd. on a privileged and confidential scope of work involving water quality modelling services for Teck and is engaged as the lead consultant on the water quality modelling aspects of the project, including the development of reporting deliverables for external communication.

Shasta Baker Project

Client — TDG Gold Corp.

Falkirk is the Lead Consultant with overall responsibility for project management, study coordination and the final deliverables for baseline studies, procurement, and leading environmental compliance and permitting. Falkirk also functions as the Indigenous Advisory team for this company, including negotiations with Indigenous communities and governments, consultation, development of engagement plans and strategies, and policy development.

The Falkirk team has also supported water quality impact assessment and gap analysis of the current water quality information to support regulatory applications.

Bralorne Gold Mines / Spences Bridge

Talisker Resources Ltd.

Talisker Resources Ltd. has utilized Falkirk as an Owners’ Representative for project permitting, water treatment, Indigenous Engagement and Negotiations on multiple projects throughout British Columbia.

At Talisker’s Bralorne Gold Mine, Falkirk has undertaken the development and negotiation of mutually beneficial agreements between the company and relevant Indigenous communities, facilitation of quarterly Environmental Monitoring Board meetings (permit condition), growth of relationships through appropriate cultural lenses, and ongoing updates and communication between the company and the Indigenous communities in its project areas.

Falkirk has been instrumental in establishing both business and community partnerships associated with Talisker’s projects across British Columbia. Sensitive to Indigenous ways of knowing and interacting with the land, Falkirk’s Christy Smith has facilitated authentic and long-standing relationships between Talisker, and a number of Indigenous Nations, including Nation-led capacity building and community support initiatives.