Southern Ontario Stream Monitoring and Research Team (SOSMART)

The (SMART) networks provide a forum for exchange of ideas, data and science. They facilitate collaborative study design development that enables broader questions to be answered.  This leads to better decision making capabilities for all participants.

The factors that influence the condition of a stream operate in a hierarchical manner.  Decision makers need access to the best information and science possible.  Further, management decisions often require a landscape perspective to ensure appropriate actions are taken.  Fortunately many agencies, researchers and private citizens are engaged in conducting or mandating the collection of data on flowing waters.  Thousands of site visits are carried out annually to evaluate the biophysical properties of these systems using techniques that vary from being cursory to in-depth.  To a large extent the properties of the systems being evaluated are similar (i.e., fish/benthos, water quality/quantity, and habitat).  Unfortunately, there is at present no mechanism to manage this information to ensure widespread access and as important the data tends to collected in ways that limit their value in developing new science and management support tools.  To address these challenges a network approach is being applied in many parts of the world and several networks have emerged in Southern Ontario. 

The Southern Ontario Stream Monitoring and Research Team (SOSMART), formerly known as the Lake Ontario Modeling Team (LOMT) is a coalition of partners from along the north shore of Lake Ontario, that currently includes Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of the Environment, Environment Canada, the City of Toronto, Conservation Authorities (Toronto and Region, Central Lake Ontario, Credit Valley, Lake Simcoe and Region, Nottawasaga Valley, Lower Trent, Otonabee, Ganaraska Region and Conservation Halton), along with several non-government agencies.  To date, the principle outcome of this team has been to further the science and understanding of watershed processes and influences, develop decision support tools, influence policy direction, and to facilitate training and science transfer.

The true benefit of the network approach is that the results of collaborating have been invariably greater than expected and are better than any one agency could provide on their own.  One partner in the SOSMART group said it well when looking at the 2000+ data points: "None of us could have afforded to collect this data alone, but collectively our data and the science generated from it is irrefutable".

General Documents

• What Is A "SMART" Presentation
• Potential Research Projects Utilizing SOSMART Data
• Understanding Headwater Flows - Stanfield And Jackson 2011
• Benefits of Participating in a SMART group 18kb
• Updated Map of Smart Networks 2011
• Estimating Summer Low-Flow in Streams in a Morainal Landscape using Spatial Hydrologic Models 1,027kb
• "Effects of Percent Impervious Cover on Fish and Benthos Assemblages and Instream Habitats in Lake Ontario Tributaries," Stanfield and Kilgour, 2006. 1,965kb 
• "Using a Landscape Approach to Identify the Distribution and Density Patterns of Salmonids in Lake Ontario Tributaries," Stanfield and Gibson, 2006. 2,187kb 
• "Hindcasting Reference Conditions in Streams," Kilgour and Stanfield, 2006. 4,177kb 
• Hydraulic Head Comparison R. Stanfield jan 2007 115kb 
• 2008 Prospectus for Ontario stream monitoring networkv2 102kb 
• Borisko Benthos Field Method Comparison 630kb 
• 2008 05 06 Lowflow Data Meeting Minutes 26kb 
• "What is a SMART? - presentation at AFS Ontario Chapter Annual Meeting March 2010" 698kb
• "A framework for incorporating the science of impact, risk and state of resource assessments into management decisions for flowing waters" 230kb

Meetings

Meeting 2_11: December 1, 2011

Meeting 1_11: March 24, 2011

Meeting 2_10: December 7, 2010

GTA Conservation Authorities Watershed Monitoring Forum: April 7, 2010

Meeting 1_10: March 24, 2010

SMART Network Leaders Meeting: March 24, 2010

Meeting 1_09: November 10, 2009

Meeting 2_08: December 4, 2008

Meeting 1_08: June 19, 2008

Meeting 1_07: December 11, 2007

Meeting 2_06: November 28, 2006

Meeting 1_06: May 24, 2006

Meeting 2_05: September 7, 2005

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