| Title | A fully integrated groundwater-surface-water model for southern Ontario |
| Download | Download (whole publication) |
| |
| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Frey, S K; Khader, O; Taylor, A; Erler, A R; Lapen, D R; Sudicky, E A; Berg, S J; Russell, H A J |
| Source | Southern Ontario groundwater project 2014-2019: summary report; by Russell, H A J (ed.); Kjarsgaard, B A (ed.); Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8536, 2020 p. 231-245, https://doi.org/10.4095/321108
 Open Access |
| Year | 2020 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| Related | This publication is contained in Southern Ontario
groundwater project 2014-2019: summary report |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Ontario |
| NTS | 30; 31C; 31D; 40; 41A; 41G; 41H |
| Area | Great Lakes; Lake Ontario; Lake Erie; Lake Huron; Georgian Bay; Lake Simcoe |
| Lat/Long WENS | -83.5000 -76.0000 45.3333 41.5000 |
| Subjects | hydrogeology; surficial geology/geomorphology; regional geology; stratigraphy; geochemistry; environmental geology; Nature and Environment; Science and Technology; groundwater; surface waters; lakes;
rivers; watersheds; drainage systems; models; computer simulations; groundwater resources; groundwater regimes; groundwater flow; aquifers; flow regimes; flow rates; groundwater levels; water levels; well level fluctuations; water utilization;
hydrostratigraphic units; hydrologic environment; hydrologic properties; hydrologic budget; stream flow; groundwater geochemistry; sulphur geochemistry; water quality; bedrock geology; sediments; soils; water wells; observation wells; climatology;
climate; pollution; land use; HydroGeoSphere; Great Lakes Basin; Provincial Groundwater Water Monitoring Network; Water Survey of Canada; Hydrometric network; Hydrometric station; Climate change; Extraction; monitoring; Policy development; Scientific
research; Phanerozoic; Cenozoic; Quaternary; Paleozoic; Silurian; Ordovician; Cambrian |
| Illustrations | location maps; geoscientific sketch maps; schematic cross-sections; 3-D models; models; stratigraphic charts; tables; bar graphs; hydrographs; plots; time series |
| Program | Groundwater Geoscience Aquifer Assessment & support to mapping |
| Released | 2020 05 28 |
| Abstract | A prototype groundwater- surface-water model for southern Ontario has been developed with HydroGeoSphere (HGS), which provides a three-dimensional (3-D), physics-based simulation of fully integrated
groundwater-surface-water flow. To-date, the model has been tested for its ability to reproduce average monthly surface-water flow rates and groundwater levels, and its sensitivity to spatial and temporal resolution. Model utility has been
demonstrated through an assessment of groundwater extraction influences on regional groundwater levels, which demonstrates how it could be used to address water resources and hydrologic questions. The model domain encompasses 109,565 km2, with
approximately 79,000 km2 being land area and the remainder being area within the Great Lakes. To assess sensitivity to spatial resolution, low- and high- resolution model versions have been constructed, with surface water features resolved to
Strahler order 4 and Strahler order 3, respectively. The hydrostratigraphy is based on 3-D Paleozoic and Quaternary geological models, along with mapping of depth to the base of high-sulphur content groundwater. The low- and high- resolution models
consist of 21 and 16 layers, and 874,398 and 2,127,760 3-D finite element mesh nodes. Both models incorporate spatially distributed soil, landcover, and spatially and temporally distributed evapotranspiration. To assess model performance, 321 wells
from the Provincial Groundwater Water Monitoring Network and 29 hydrometric stations from the Water Survey of Canada were incorporated as validation targets. Simulation results show that both the low- and high- resolution versions of the model were
able to capture the magnitude and seasonal variation in both groundwater levels and surface water flow rates. As the model was subjected to minimal calibration, this is a meaningful validation of its performance. Differences in performance between
the low- and high- resolution model versions were minimal for both the surface-water flow rates and groundwater level results. Results demonstrate the utility of a regional scale, fully integrated hydrologic model for investigating water resources
issues of southern Ontario. The model could evolve into a multi-objective groundwater/surface-water simulation tool for southern Ontario, wherein seasonal water balances and general trends in groundwater and surface water availability under climate
change and anthropogenic influences within the Great Lakes Region can be assessed. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
Collection of papers on work completed in the past five years as part of the southern Ontario Groundwater Project. This edited volume is a collection of
currently unreported work. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 321108 |
|
|