Project AM4
National Aquifer Evaluation and Accounting – Estimating the potential groundwater resources of Canada
Contact: Alfonso Rivera (Project Leader)
Summary
Establishing a National Perspective of Groundwater Resources in Canada
A federal water policy released in 1987 set forth directions for the joint and cooperative management of water resources with the provinces. Subsequently the Canadian Framework for Collaboration on Groundwater (Rivera et al. 2003) encouraged cooperation at the working level on groundwater issues.
Recent reports have noted that the federal government has an incomplete understanding of groundwater resources at a national scale which impedes optimal establishment of national policies and priorities. In part to address this issue, in 2009 the Canadian Council of Academies recommended that the federal government in cooperation with provinces and territories should initiate a reporting program on the state of groundwater in Canada, aided by the development of a more coordinated approach to the access and management of groundwater data. Such a framework would then permit improved governmental response to concerns about stresses on groundwater systems due to land use, urbanization, climate change, and increasing demand.
Project Approach and Objectives
The National Aquifer Evaluation & Accounting Project is proposed as a collaborative provincial – federal initiative to build the necessary structure to report on groundwater at the national scale.
Objectives
- Develop a national framework for evaluating Canadian groundwater resources
- Establish a co-ordinated approach with provinces to provide national scale accounting
- Summarize the state of knowledge of groundwater resources in Canada
Anticipated Products
- Maps of the potential aquifers of Canada
- Protocols for characterizing, delineating and assessing aquifers
- Multi-scale framework for aquifer evaluation and accounting
- National aquifer classification system
- Catalogue of the aquifers of Canada
- A preliminary report on the state of knowledge of groundwater resources in Canada
Anticipated Outcomes
- Increased integration of groundwater resource information and knowledge for Canada
- Increased reporting on Canadian groundwater resources
- More effective use of existing groundwater information
- More effective decision making in national strategies and policies
- Improved ability to determine groundwater assessment needs
Beneficiaries
- Canadian citizens and NGOs
- Groundwater managers and professionals
- Provincial governments
- Federal government
Activities
Potential Aquifer Maps of Canada
Contact: Hazen Russell & Paul Wozniak (Leaders)
In this initial phase of this project, we are seeking to establish partnerships with provincial agencies that are necessary for data compilation and integration at a national scale. This project will build on partnerships and progress established for the Groundwater Information Network (GIN) project. Participation of other groundwater practitioners is welcome.
A prototype national classification system and aquifer potential map are being developed to help assess data integration issues and initiate discussion.
National aquifer evaluation framework
Contact: David Sharpe & Marc Hinton (Leaders)
This activity compliments the proposed assessment and inventory activities of the program by developing a national aquifer framework needed for the long term Groundwater Program goal of Canadians being able to manage groundwater resources sustainably. The project will also work with provincial partners to develop and use common standards through GIN to develop national aquifer data and map sets. An emerging national scale summary of the status of groundwater resources and knowledge will aid the federal government in developing national water strategies and allocating resources to priority areas.
The activity will develop: an aquifer evaluation framework to support a national groundwater census; a catalogue of Canadian aquifers with provincial partners; an aquifer classification system for Canada with provincial partners; and a systematic set of characteristics /criteria that contribute to geological/ hydrogeological frameworks (aquifer mapping).
Modelling Surface Water/Groundwater with the EALCO Model
Contact: Shusen Wang (Lead)
Modelling groundwater-surface water interactions and assessing the impact of climate and land use on groundwater recharge. This work focuses on simulating the groundwater-surface water interactions using the ESS EALCO model and its integration with satellite observations (remote sensing). The work will also include Earth Observations that are directly related to surface water and groundwater conditions and variations such as gravity change (GRACE) and soil moisture. Thus, this activity is strongly linked to the activity below (GRACE).
Characterizing Groundwater Variations using GRACE
Contact: Jianliang Huang (Lead)
Characterizing groundwater variations in Canadian Aquifers using total water storage estimates from GRACE. GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment satellites) data will be used to better understand the dynamics of groundwater in Canada.
The overall objective is to characterize the groundwater variations of major water basins and regional aquifers and their interactions with surface water reservoirs in Canada by disaggregating and downscaling the GRACE TWS (Total Water mass Storage) change estimation. In-situ hydrological observations and outputs from the land surface modeling systems (e.g., EALCO) will be used to separate the groundwater state information from the GRACE estimation. This activity will produce monthly and secular national maps of the GRACE TWS change and anomaly and time-series graphs for major water basins/regions, for on-line publication.