Although often hidden beneath our feet, groundwater is an important water source for rural residents and municipalities, agriculture, and industry. Groundwater is also an important part of the water cycle, contributing to streamflow and supporting ecosystems such as wetlands, riparian zones, and fish spawning areas.
The quality (or chemistry) of groundwater varies throughout Alberta, ranging from high quality drinking water to low quality saline water, inadequate for drinking, stock watering, irrigation, or industrial use. While groundwater quality varies naturally, depending on the geological material and hydrogeological conditions, human activities on the land surface can also alter groundwater quality by introducing contaminants and changing the hydrological regime.
Dr. Bernhard Mayer’s Applied Geochemistry research group at the University of Calgary is leading a 3-year project focused on assessing regional-scale historic patterns and future trends of shallow (< 150 m deep) groundwater quality in southern Alberta. The objectives of this study are to examine:
- where groundwater quality has changed since the 1950’s and the potential anthropogenic (e.g., land use, human footprint) or natural (e.g. climate, hydrogeological) causes of change;
- how climate change and land/water use may alter groundwater quality by affecting hydrological/geochemical conditions; and,
- how trends in groundwater quality may affect surface water quality.
The project is funded, since April 2023, by the Alberta Innovates Water Innovation Program, with contributions from Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation, the Alberta Geological Survey of the Alberta Energy Regulator, the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute, the Ludwig-Maximillians University Munich (Germany), and the Red Deer River Watershed Alliance.
The goal of this project is to generate an understanding of the regional-scale cumulative effects of past and current land use, and future climate change and water use scenarios on shallow groundwater quality to improve management of groundwater and surface water resources. The research team plans to provide regular updates specific to the Red Deer Watershed in this newsletter as research results emerge.