Water wells where ground water quality samples were collected by the Naquadat Program between 1954 and 1980

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.

In permafrost dominated regions, a gap persists in our understanding of water resources, the influence of groundwater, and the impact of climate change at the regional scale. Regional scale modelling can help to advance the understanding of these impacts by integrating with regional climate models. For regional modelling to be tenable, ongoing development of modelling methods and conceptualizations is required. By developing a fully integrated numerical groundwater-surface water climate model using HydroGeoSphere (HGS) (Aquanty 2021) for a gauged basin within the discontinuous permafrost zone, this dataset allows the verification of existing numerical methods and the testing of various conceptualizations of integrated groundwater-surface water flow in permafrost regions at the regional scale. This work informs future modelling and forecasting of regional water resources in permafrost regimes.

This map displays an assessment of groundwater quality risk for the agricultural area of Alberta. Agricultural activities that may have an impact on groundwater quality include livestock, crop production and agrochemical use. These activities along with the physical characteristics represented by aquifer vulnerability and available moisture were combined to produce this map. The classes shown on the map were ranked from 0 (lowest risk) to 1 (highest risk). This resource was created in 2005 using ArcGIS.

Point features showing the locations of groundwater wells which have lithology recorded. Each record in the dataset represents a lithology interval. Because each water well often has multiple lithology layers recorded, there will often be multiple points overlapped at each well location. For the locations of all water wells in BC (without lithology), please see: https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/e4731a85-ffca-4112-8caf-cb0a96905778 > NOTE: When choosing to download this GIS dataset below, there can be errors when trying to download the entire province. The large file size is a problem for the default file format (shapefile). > If you need to download the entire province, please choose a different file format (e.g. ESRI File Geodatabase). > If you need to download in shapefile format, please use an area of interest (AOI).

Existing flood protection works (dikes and bank protection) crest alignment in British Columbia. Updated from available Provincial dike crest survey project data from 2019/2020. If 2019/2020 dike survey project data is unavailable, linework based on previous data from 2004 and prior. May include periodic updates depending on data provided by Diking Authorities and other sources. See Data Source under selected linework for details. For more information on dike management and safety, please see: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/water/drought-flooding-dikes-dams/integrated-flood-hazard-management/dike-management For contact names regarding regional diking issues, please see: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/air-land-water/water/integrated-flood-hazard-mgmt/dike_safety_program_contact_list.pdf

Existing flood protection works appurtenances on or near dikes, for example, pump house, floodbox, culvert, gate, gauge, weir, etc. Updated from available Provincial dike survey project data from 2019/2020. If 2019/2020 dike survey project data is unavailable, appurtenance data based on previous data from 2004 and prior. May include periodic updates depending on data provided by Diking Authorities and other sources. See Data Source under selected appurtenance for details. For more information on dike management and safety, please see: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/water/drought-flooding-dikes-dams/integrated-flood-hazard-management/dike-management For contact names regarding regional diking issues, please see: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/air-land-water/water/integrated-flood-hazard-mgmt/dike_safety_program_contact_list.pdf

The datasets contain water surface evaporation (PET, in mm of H2O) over Canada's landmass at a spatial resolution of 10-km and temporal intervals of a month and a year over a 24-year period of 2000-2023. The PET was produced by the Land Surface Model EALCO (Ecological Assimilation of Land and Climate Observations) developed at Natural Resources Canada. The PET algorithm in EALCO integrates the dynamic surface evolutions of liquid water, ice, and snow-on-ice for a waterbody into the Penman Equation. The PET was simulated at a daily time step. The monthly (or annual) PET in the datasets is the sum of the daily PET values in a month (or a year). Dew and frost formations simulated by EALCO are included in the PET as negative values, so the PET represents the net water flux between water surface and the atmosphere. Details of the dataset and the EALCO PET modelling algorithms can be found in Li, Wang, and Li (2020, Spatial variations and long‑term trends of potential evaporation in Canada. Scientific Reports, 10: 22089, doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78994-9).

Watercourses are line features - natural or manmade - that represent the location of flowing surface water. This product requires the use of geographic information system (GIS) software.

In the hydrogeological unit, quantity of water that replenishes groundwater beneath the water table, expressed in mm/yr. Recharge is usually calculated using hydrology balance, integrating information from precipitation, hydrology data, drainage, soil properties, evapotranspiration, etc. The result is a raster dataset in which each cell has a given value for the recharge of the aquifer. It can be calculate using HELP software, developed by the US EPA. The methods used to create the dataset are described in the metadata associated with the dataset. The dataset represent a raster in which each cell has a mean value describing the global annual recharge of the hydrogeological unit.