157 Exploring Groundwater Recharge and Management: Managed Aquifer Recharge and Other Innovative Tools for Water Supply Development and Operations

Growing demand for water has highlighted the need to understand aquifer recharge to improve groundwater management and production methods. This session explores groundwater recharge and innovative water supplies and infrastructure. Topics include evapotranspiration, vadose zone processes, brackish groundwater desalination, managed aquifer recharge, stormwater management, and others.

Tuesday, 21 October 2025
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
HBGCC, 209

From Regional-Scale Groundwater Data to Resource Management Tool

Paper number: 157-9
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 10:15 AM – 10:30 AM

Authors

Abstract

Communities in southern Alberta, Canada, rely upon water resources for their recreation, culture, and economic activities. Agriculture, energy, and tourism provide important sources of income for businesses, farmers and ranchers, and the province. Within the region, the Bow, Oldman and South Saskatchewan river basins are closed to new surface water allocations. Though they represent just 10 percent of the area of Alberta (67,000 km2), they support 44 percent of the population (1.9 million). Recent widespread drought has increased concern among communities and municipalities regarding water availability.

 

In 2023, the Government of Alberta (GoA) recognized that growing communities and the thriving economy in southern Alberta will increase water demand in a region sensitive to changing climate. Hence, a review of Alberta’s water management strategy is underway to address challenges of water availability and issuance of water licences affecting Albertans. The Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) is collaborating with the GoA to evaluate groundwater data, information, and knowledge, developing a framework for groundwater management, and devising to make the information available to decision-makers and the public.

 

Alberta has a rich repository of groundwater data: water well and exploration borehole logs, electromagnetic geophysical surveys, and hydrogeological mapping that commenced in the 1960s for exploration. The Southern Alberta Groundwater Evaluation (SAGE) project builds on these efforts. Advancements include collecting new data using modern methods and tools and high-resolution mapping of surficial geology, near-surface aquifers, groundwater conditions, and landscape morphology. The SAGE team acquired 1,248 km of ground-based geophysical data, digitized 2,000 high-quality borehole records, produced a bedrock aquifer property model, and generated 3D visualizations of groundwater bodies.

 

Groundwater data and information will be available in an open-access format. A prototype of the SAGE Interactive Mapping Application was built using GIS cloud-based software. The platform integrates with the extensive repository of geological and groundwater data generated and hosted by the AGS and GoA. This resource management tool will serve as a key product utilized during stakeholder outreach. Outcomes of the tool include increased groundwater data accessibility for water users, meanwhile providing streamlined acquisition of geospatial data needed to make informed groundwater licencing and policy decisions. This collaborative effort between geoscientists, policymakers, and water resource managers is advancing the knowledge of groundwater availability and sustainable-use management in southern Alberta.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-414272

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