Northern Research Basins Water Balance (Proceedings of a workshop held at Victoria, Canada, March 2004). IAHS Publ. 290, 2004, 186–194

1 Geography, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada

2 Geology and Geophysics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada

3 National Water Research Institute, Saskatoon, Saskachewan, S7N 3H5, Canada

Abstract Field studies were conducted in the wetland-dominated region of discontinuous permafrost of the lower Liard River valley in order to: (a) estimate the relative magnitudes of basin water balance components; and (b) demonstrate associations between total annual runoff and the relative proportions of flat bogs, channel fens and peat plateaus within this region. Annual runoff from the study basins is generally below 200 mm, while evapotranspiration ranges between 200 and 500 mm. The magnitude of the annual basin runoff increases with increasing coverage of channel fen, but decreases as the proportion of flat bogs increases.

Key words channel fens; evapotranspiration; flat bogs; peat plateaus; permafrost; runoff; water balance