Volume 41 of the Canadian Water Resources Journal will see two special issues in addition to an issue of regular contributions to the journal. The first is this double issue dealing with floods in Canada, edited by Donald Burn, Daniel Caissie, Daniel Peters, Steven Renzetti, Andre St-Hilaire and Paul Whitfield. The first part of the double issue contains papers addressing physical aspects of floods as well as case studies of recent flood events across the country. Papers in the second part of the double issue deal with the ecological, social and management aspects of floods. We feel that this assembly of papers provides a valuable update on a wide range of issues associated with flooding in Canada. The second special issue to appear later in 2016 is on groundwater–surface water interactions in Canada. It is edited by Marie Larocque and Stefan Broda, and its papers focus on a range of issues associated with groundwater–surface water interactions in Canada as well as progress in the methods used to study such interactions. The papers in this special issue will make an important contribution to improving the integrated management of Canada’s groundwater and surface water resources.
2016 marks the end of Professor Diana Allen’s tenure as co-editor of the journal. Diana has been a co-editor (first with Paul Whitfield, then with Jim Buttle) over the past 6 years, and has been essential in setting and maintaining the high standards of the Canadian Water Resources Journal. Her efforts have helped to increase the journal’s stature on the national and international stages (as demonstrated by the continued rise in the journal’s impact factor), and she has played a key role in shepherding the two special issues in Volume 41 through to a successful outcome. Diana’s guidance has been invaluable as we have “learned the ropes” of the co-editor’s position, and we wish her all the best.
The journal’s new co-editor is Dr. Chris Spence, a research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, based in Saskatoon. Chris has considerable experience in the hydrology of cold climates in Canada, and he played a leading role in the planning and implementation of Canada’s contribution to the International Association of Hydrological Science’s Prediction in Ungauged Basins (PUB) initiative. I look forward to working with him in the coming years.
We close by expressing our thanks as always to the Canadian Water Resources Journal’s editorial board (listed on the Canadian Water Resources Association webpage), both for their efforts in overseeing the reviews of manuscripts during the past year and for their forthcoming work in 2016. We also thank the many reviewers (listed at the back of this issue) for their contributions to the journal in the past year. Finally, we repeat the invitation that has been made by past co-editors for ideas for special issues of the Canadian Water Resources Journal. Such special issues provide an excellent showcase for the outstanding research that is being carried out on a range of issues related to Canada’s water resources.
Co-editor, Canadian Water Resources Journal
Chris Spence
Co-editor, Canadian Water Resources Journal