The confinement describes the types of aquifer: confined, unconfined and semi-confined. Confined aquifer is bounded from above and below by impervious formations. Unconfined aquifer has a water table which serves as its upper boundary. Semi-confined aquifer is in between. Aquifer confinement is derived from geology, stratigraphy and hydrogeological unit thickness. The dataset represents the confinement assessment of the local area over the hydrogeological unit, from a controlled vocabulary.

Polygon features represent developed ground water aquifers in BC (that have been mapped). Most aquifer boundaries are delineated based on geology, hydrology and topographic information. Some aquifer boundaries stop at the border of BC mapsheet boundaries due to resource or data constraints at the time of mapping.

Point features showing the locations of groundwater wells with pumping test information and/or aquifer parameter data. Some wells may have more than one pumping test record. Further context regarding the pumping tests and analysis are provided with the well records in GWELLS (https://apps.nrs.gov.bc.ca/gwells/).

Province wide spatial view showing aquifers designated as a Water Reservation. These Reserves set aside water in an aquifer specifically for future treaty obligations, and are formally established through Orders in Council issued by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, as authorized under Sections 39–41 of the Water Sustainability Act.

The Aquifer Vulnerability Index (AVI) is a method of assessing the vulnerability of aquifers to surface contaminants in Alberta. An aquifer is a geological formation that is permeable enough to transmit sufficient quantities of water to possible to support the development of water wells. In the assessment of aquifer vulnerability to potential contamination, the depth to the aquifer and the types of geological materials above them are considered. For example, aquifers closer to the surface overlain with pervious surface materials are more vulnerable to contaminants, as compared to aquifers found deeper and covered with a thick layer of impervious material. The AVI ratings indicate the potential of surficial materials to transmit water withy contaminants to the aquifer over a period of time. This data was created in 2002 using ArcGIS.

Spatial dataset of DRASTIC Aquifer Intrinsic Vulnerability study areas in BC, and which also serves as an index containing links to the technical summary reports stored in the BC Government's Ecological Reports Catalogue (EcoCat). For the DRASTIC Aquifer Intrinsic Vulnerability mapping data related to each report, please see https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/33bcf95c-6742-419d-a898-9b26109d6504 For more information (including an explanation of the DRASTIC method) please see "A Guide to the Use of Intrinsic Aquifer Vulnerability Mapping" at https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/acat/public/viewReport.do?reportId=23346

To support improved groundwater geoscience knowledge for southern Ontario, a regional 3-D model of the surficial geology of southern Ontario has been developed as a part of a collaboration between the Ontario Geological Survey and the Geological Survey of Canada. Covering approximately 66,870 km2 in area, the model is a synthesis of existing geological models, surficial geology mapping, and subsurface data. The model is a simplified 9-layer reclassification of numerous mapped local surficial sediment formations in places over 200 m thick with a total volume of approximately 2,455 km3. The model integrates 1:50,000 scale surficial geology mapping with 90 m bathymetrically corrected topographic digital elevation model (DEM) and 8 existing local 3-D models. Archival subsurface data include 10,237 geotechnical and stratigraphic boreholes, 3,312 picks from geophysical surveys, 15,902 field mapping sites and sections, 537 monitoring and water supply wells and 282,995 water well records. Roughly corresponding to regional aquifer and aquitard layers, primary model layers are (from oldest to youngest): Bedrock, Basal Aquifer, Lower Sediment, Regional Till, Post Regional Till Channel Fill, Glaciofluvial Sediment, Post Regional Till Mud, Glaciolacustrine Sand and Recent Sediment / Organics. Modelling was completed using an implicit modelling application (LeapFrog®) complemented by an expert knowledge approach to data classification and rules-based Expert System procedure for data interpretation and validation. An iterative cycle of automated data coding, intermediate model construction and manual data corrections, expert evaluations, and revisions lead to the final 3-D model. A semi-quantitative confidence assessment has been made for each model layer surface based on data quality, distribution and density. This surficial geology model completes the development of a series of regional 3-D geological and hydrogeological models for southern Ontario.

Hydraulic properties characterize a hydrogeological unit. The hydraulic properties considered for this dataset are the transmissivity, the hydraulic conductivity, the storage coefficient, the specific storage coefficient and the porosity. Hydraulic properties are estimated by performing aquifer tests (pumping tests, slug tests). The hydraulic tests and their duration are managed in this dataset. The methods used to create the dataset are described in the metadata associated with the dataset. The dataset exhibits a general description of hydraulic properties of the hydrogeological unit, including hydraulic test, total test duration, method and date. It includes numbers and/or ranges describing the aquifer tests results. Note that an alternate raster representation could be used in complement to the discrete point-based representation.

This dataset is a grid of the thickness of the Haynes aquifer within the Paskapoo Formation. The Haynes aquifer is a regionally extensive body of sand that lies in the bottom part of the Paskapoo Formation. The isopach was created from the modelled results of the average sandiness of 25 m thick slices in boreholes completed within the Paskapoo Formation. Parts of the aquifer are as much as 100 m thick, particularly in the west near the deformation belt and in a region west of the city of Red Deer. The bulk of the unit averages about 50 m in thickness. Given the great range in elevation of the top of the unit, but the relatively uniform thickness of the bulk of the aquifer, we inferred that most of the Haynes aquifer was deposited prior to major deformation with only the western-most parts showing evidence of infill of enhanced accommodation space. Most of the Haynes aquifer is overlain by thick muddy sediments of the Lacombe Member and only outcrops along its eastern edge.

Spatial dataset of DRASTIC aquifer intrinsic vulnerability of groundwater for specific study areas in BC, as reported in technical summary reports which are made available through the BC government's Ecological Reports Catalogue (EcoCat). For the study areas covered by each report and a link to each report in EcoCat, please see the EcoCat Reports Index spatial dataset: https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/386396c7-befe-4357-8088-21f1834a2e76 For more information (including an explanation of the DRASTIC method) please see "A Guide to the Use of Intrinsic Aquifer Vulnerability Mapping" at https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/acat/public/viewReport.do?reportId=23346