Category Archives: Research

Components of a Groundwater Management Plan

Managing groundwater to ensure a long-term sustainable and reliable, good quality water supply requires that local agencies implement a groundwater management program suitable to the political, legal, institutional, technical and economic opportunities and constraints that exist in their basin. This Water Fact lists components that should be considered for inclusion. Read More

7-Steps for Managing Groundwater Supplies

The amount of groundwater in storage in each basin is dependent on the precipitation, recharge and the total extraction of all the wells. A groundwater management plan that is designed for the political, institutional, legal and technical specifics of the basin can help everyone maintain the quality and quantity of the groundwater supply. Read More

Flow and Storage in Groundwater Systems

The dynamic nature of groundwater is not readily apparent, except where discharge is focused at springs or where recharge enters sinkholes. Yet groundwater ßow and storage are continually changing in response to human and climatic stresses. Wise development of groundwater resources requires a more complete understanding of these changes in ßow and storage and of their effects on the terrestrial environment and on numerous surface-water features and their biota. Read More

Cumulative Effects Monitoring of Okanagan Streams using Benthic Invertebrates, 1999 to 2004

Biological monitoring is essential to describing and protecting biological resources. Chemical measurements, or habitat assessments are useful to aquatic resource management, but the primary sentinels and objects requiring protection are organisms living in the stream. The merits of using benthic invertebrate measures as cumulative effects indicators are many. Foremost is that biological condition of the streams is being directly assessed. Benthic invertebrates are useful integrators of various stressors and are acknowledged as useful cumulative effects indicators. Secondly, the ranking of stream condition using a benthic invertebrate index or metric, is a defensible objective statement describing stream health, which may be Read More

Adaptation to Climate Change: it

Scientists have been seeing increases in the concentration of several ‘greenhouse’ gasses. The net effect of these gasses is trapping of the solar radiation and heating of the atmosphere. The primary gas of concern is carbon dioxide (CO2), which is a by-product of many human activities. This heating will have a profound effect on our weather systems. Read More

GW-MATE Briefing Note Series

The Briefing Notes Series on Groundwater Management was launched in 2002 to provide reader-friendly information on groundwater management and protection, and has been expanded based on needs and demands. It gives a concise introduction to groundwater, with each note answering the 'most frequently-asked questions' about different facets of the subject, especially in a developing nation context. Briefing Notes to date include: Read More

Water Management and Climate Change in the Okanagan Basin

Water resources, their management and use, are known to be sensitive to variations in climate, and will be influenced by projected climatic change. This study concerns potential implications of climatic change for the Okanagan region of British Columbia. The study has two main goals: Read More

Streamline – Watershed Management Bulletin

Effective watershed management relies on understanding the complete hydrologic cycle—how water moves across and through the landscape, and how land use and natural disturbance subsequently affect water quantity, quality, and streamflow timing. From the atmosphere to the hydrosphere, water and energy are Read More