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Study maps Canada’s hidden water to stave off shortages

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 7, 2009 at 5:56 am

From CBC News:

Canadian scientists are partway through a project to map underground water supplies across the country. The goal is to help policy makers prevent water shortages as industrial and urban development, along with climate change, put pressure on groundwater supplies.

Alfonso Rivera, chief hydrogeologist with the Geological Survey of Canada, said so far the study has found there are close to 100,000 cubic kilometres of water hidden in aquifers across the country — a large, rich supply. But most of that is “fossil water” that was trapped underground long ago and isn’t rechargeable, Rivera said. Those aquifers that can recharge do so more slowly than previously believed, and most of them aren’t very deep.

“The point there is you may run out of water — they don’t have a huge capacity of availability in the long run,” he said.

Rivera said that up until now, Canada has had little information about how much groundwater it has, how that water is recharged and when it might run out.

Mark Hinton, a hydrogeologist with the Geological Survey who is working with Rivera on the project, said that information is important because all human activities from agriculture to the construction of subdivisions affect groundwater supplies. “This kind of research is really useful because it helps us make decisions — how much can we use?” said Hinton, who is currently near Cornwall studying the aquifer in layers of an esker, a ribbon of sand and gravel deposited by glacier.

Read more from the CBC News by clicking here. Hat tip to the Sisweb for this one!

April 7, 2009 · Filed Under International Water Issues

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