Threats to groundwater resources in urbanizing watersheds: The Waterloo Moraine and beyond

Abstract

Urbanization poses a variety of threats to groundwater resources, potentially impacting both the quantity and the quality of water extracted from wells. Agricultural areas also face their own unique types of threats. Threats can depend on scale, and can take on chronic as well as acute forms. The current framework for threat and impact assessment is reviewed with a focus on the Waterloo Moraine, an important water source for the Region of Waterloo, and suggestions are offered for improvement. These include more effective ways of delineating well capture zones with consideration of uncertainty, and the application of the well vulnerability concept, which provides information on the actual impact of a threat and the time frame of the impact, and the consideration of dynamic phenomena that are particularly critical in the case of acute threats. These issues are seen as part of a comprehensive future framework of science-based groundwater governance for Canada. Along with effective threat assessment, the mitigation of impact in urban and agricultural areas is also essential in the sustainable management of groundwater resources. © 2014 Canadian Water Resources Association.