AUPRF Program
2019
19-WIPC-01
Executive Summary
Expansion of oil and gas activities into unconventional resource plays has been accompanied by some concerns about the current and future state of groundwater in Alberta and British Columbia. A key step in addressing this concern is characterizing current baseline groundwater conditions in a scientifically sound manner using methods that enable differentiation between natural variations in water and gas geochemistry from those caused by potential anthropogenic impacts. Such a project was recently completed for the province of Alberta. However, a similar assessment has not been conducted for shallow groundwater data in areas of hydrocarbon resource development in British Columbia.