Groundwater Vulnerability Assessments and Integrated Water Resource Management

As part of integrated water resource management, vulnerability assessments are integrated into a program of groundwater characterization and risk analysis, with tiered approaches for assessing vulnerability, hazard potential, and risk. Introduction Canada has a disproportionate share of the world’s water and, as such, many Canadians hold the mistaken belief that our renewable freshwater resources are unlimited. Also, as groundwater is “hidden” below ground, it is hard to understand the processes affecting the resource. Groundwater is vulnerable to contamination from human activities, and is very difficult to remediate once contaminated. British Columbia has over 900 developed aquifers and almost 750 000 British Columbians (about 20% of the population) rely on groundwater as their drinking water source (BC Ministry of Environment 2009). To properly manage and protect the resource, it is therefore important to determine areas where groundwater may be more vulnerable to contamination.

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