Interactive App and Map 009

Author(s) Date 2021-04-26

This ArcGIS StoryMaps collection describes the hydrogeological regions in Alberta with photos, interactive maps, and narrative. The collection features 11 individual story maps, with one providing an introduction to the hydrogeological region concept and approach, and one for each of the 10 hydrogeological regions defined in Alberta: the Mountains and Foothills, Western Plains and Benchlands, Central Plains, Eastern Plains and Buried Valleys, Province-Wide Buried Valleys, Regional Uplands, McMurray Lowlands, Northwestern Lowlands, Northeastern Lowlands, and Canadian Shield and Athabasca Basin. Each region has a unique hydrogeological setting based on the regional geology, physiography, and climate.

These hydrogeological settings play a significant role in groundwater movement, availability, yield, quality, and response to changes from human use or climate change. This work integrates many different provincial-scale datasets to build the hydrogeological setting of each region, including surface elevation, bedrock physiography, sediment thickness, bedrock geology, climate moisture index, surficial geology, surface morphology, and water well targets (sediments or bedrock). Previous regional hydrogeology studies were also used to develop the setting of each area.

This story map collection provides a multi-disciplinary overview to better inform policy development for building water security, sustainability and resilience for the future, as well as a systematic framework to initiate more localized groundwater studies.

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