Liard First Nation and Yukon College - Groundwater/Surface Water Mapping

GW Solutions worked with the Liard First Nation and Yukon College to provide groundwater/surface water mapping to assess the quality of groundwater drinking sources in Watson Lake, Upper Liard, and Albert Creek.

The project consisted of describing the movement of groundwater and the geometry and characteristics of the local aquifers. The interconnection between surface water and groundwater was assessed.

Draft conceptual models were built describing the potential groundwater movements to a maximum depth of 2 km. This will be the starting point to identify the state of knowledge on the groundwater regime, the key data gaps, and the staging and focus of any additional investigation. Maps and cross-sections describing the soil and bedrock lithology, the surface water features, aquifers (if known), permafrost, potential groundwater pathways, and aquifer recharge and discharge zones.

Well-water results were compared to the Canadian Drinking Water Quality Guidelines parameters, and visualized using Aquachem software (this software illustrates information about water quality) so that colour coded maps illustrating concentrations of parameters of concern could be generated; the database is connected to GoogleEarth layers.