Establishing a Rural Groundwater Monitoring Network Using Existing Wells: West Nose Creek Pilot Study, Alberta

Abstract

Sustainable groundwater management requires long-term monitoring of aquifer water level, water quality, and water use with adequate spatial and temporal resolution in order to evaluate the response of the aquifer to changes in pumping rates and meteorological conditions. Since existing federal and provincial monitoring programs do not have sufficient spatial resolution, an alternative is to establish locally-based monitoring programs coordinated by municipalities or watershed groups. A network of more than 20 monitoring wells was implemented in the West Nose Creek watershed near Calgary, Alberta using existing water supply wells. The network effectively captured the pattern of seasonal and inter-annual fluctuations of aquifer water level. Understanding of the natural fluctuation will help the community detect any undesirable effects of increasing water extraction in the future. Biannual newsletters were distributed to the well owners and a wider community within the watershed to communicate the results and background knowledge. The methodology established in this pilot study may provide a cost-effective tool for rural groundwater monitoring in the Canadian prairies and elsewhere.