Groundwater knowledge management for southern Ontario: An example from the Oak Ridges Moraine

Abstract

The interest surrounding groundwater protection in Southern Ontario has grown considerably since the Walkerton tragedy of May 2000. Since that time, a number of technical studies have been undertaken by the Province to support the preparation of Source Water Protection plans. Underlying all sound water resource management initiatives in Ontario is the need for a renewed focus on the fundamentals, specifically in this case a focus on groundwater knowledge and its management. Using the Oak Ridges Moraine Hydrogeology Program as a unique example of a groundwater "knowledge management" system, this paper presents some unexplored opportunities that merit further consideration in the application of a "knowledge management" philosophy within Ontario's overall water management framework. Within the Program's study area, the linkage and integration of the Water Well Information System with other borehole datasets and consulting reports, as well as with water use (e.g. municipal pumping) and water quality databases, has created perhaps the most comprehensive, actively managed groundwater "knowledge management" system in Canada. Ongoing Source Water Protection and other work undertaken through consultants, including data and geological/hydrogeological interpretations, is being re-incorporated, where sound and appropriate, into the program's existing groundwater knowledge infrastructure. The program's groundwater "knowledge management" system has been developed with a long-term (i.e. multi-decade) water management time frame in mind and is made accessible to geoscientists undertaking work in the area. © 2014 Canadian Water Resources Association.