Regional-Scale Groundwater Geoscience in Southern Ontario: an Ontario Geological Survey, Geological Survey of Canada, and Conservation Ontario open house

Logistics

Where: Delta Hotel, Guelph
Date: February 28 and March 1st, 2018

Meeting Objectives

Following the successful 2017 Ontario Geological Survey (OGS) – Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) Open House and the addition of a second day for Conservation Authorities, the same format has been adopted this year.

The first day of the open house continues to profile OGS and GSC research with an attempt to integrate perspectives from the USGS and other provincial ministries. Additionally this year two talks highlight groundwater work at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC). Day two focuses on work completed by, and in collaboration with Conservation Authorities in southern and eastern Ontario. Talks on the two days are 20 minutes in length, and time has been allocated during health breaks and at the end of the day to network and also interact with authors who decided to have poster presentations. Poster presentations will be on display for the complete two days.

In 2016 four key issues were identified as being the focus of presentations. This year we continue to emphasize:

  • Outcomes of the OGS-GSC 2012-2015 Groundwater Geoscience Knowledge Gap Analysis
  • Canada – USA Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement /Canada – Ontario Great Lakes Agreement
  • Provincial Groundwater Data Management and modelling.
  • Conservation Authority Geoscience

As in previous years, the 2018 open house builds upon the issue of outreach and communications identified in the 2012-2015 OGS Gaps analyses1. It is the third in a series of annual open houses planned to connect groundwater practitioners with policy makers in southern Ontario, and share updates on OGS-GSC geoscience activities. Following each open house the organizers will complete an evaluation of the success of the open house and refine the format and content for the following year. The OGS and GSC are committed to developing this open house for a four-year period until March 2019 when the exercise will be re-evaluated.


Agenda

*Download agenda in PDF format


February 28
8:00 am Registration/Networking
9:00 am Introduction Simard and Bolduc
9:10 am The Ontario Geological Survey’s Groundwater Initiative: Deliverables, Data, Derivatives and Future Direction Riley Mulligan
9:30 am Highlights of OGS – GSC Collaboration on Regional Groundwater Studies: 2017 – 2018 Hazen Russell
9:50 am The Science Behind Ontario’s Water Quantity Management Review Heather Brodie-Brown
10:10 am Break
10:40 am Linked Data: Connecting Data Using Google Discoverability Boyan Brodaric
11:00 am Public Access to U.S. Geological Survey Publications and Digital Data Sandra Eberts
11:20 am Update on Groundwater Activities under the Canada Ontario Agreement and Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Scott MacRitchie
11:40 pm The Microvibe, a Broad band, Light-Weight and Cost Effective Seismic Source for Near Surface Imaging André Pugin
12:00 pm Lunch
1:00 pm The Use of Wide Spectrum Groundwater Geochemistry in Regional Groundwater Mapping in Ontario Stew Hamilton
1:20 pm Chemical and Isotopic Evidence of Fragmented Recharge Areas for the Carbonate Aquifers of the Niagara Escarpment Elizabeth Priebe
1:40 pm Assessing the Integrity of Aquitards: the Newmarket Till at Ajax Ramina Rashtchi
2:00 pm Newmarket Till Aquitard: Optimum Grain Packing with a Pore-Filling Calcite-Rich Cement Bruce Kjarsgaard
2:20 pm Break
4:40 pm Quaternary Geology and Hydrostratigraphy of the Central Simcoe County Area, Southern Ontario Riley Mulligan
3:00 pm Challenges in Building a 3-D Geologic Model of the Paleozoic Bedrock of Southern Ontario Terry Carter
3:20 pm A Fully Integrated Groundwater – Surface-Water Modelling Platform for Southern Ontario Steven Frey
3:40 pm Data Capture, Consolidation and Reclassification: Moving Toward a Geological Framework to Support Groundwater Management Hazen Russell
4:00 pm Wrap-Up
March 1
8:30 am Registration/Networking
9:00 am Welcome to Day 2 Conservation Authorities Geoscience Ford and Holysh
9:10 am Introduction to Model Management Session Steve Holysh
9:20 am Re-Purposing Models – Experiences and Opportunities Mason Marchildon
9:40 am Moving Forward: Water Management Insights from the Development and Application of Fully Integrated Tier 3 Models Dirk Kassenaar
10:00 am Assessing Development Alternatives Utilizing Tier 3 Models: Balancing Runoff and Ecological Function Paul Martin
10:20 am Waterloo's Regional Model – A Multi-Purpose Water Management Tool Eric Hodgins
10:40 am Break
11:00 am Panel Discussion
12:00 pm Lunch
1:00 pm Use of Provincial Data by Conservation Authorities Ryan Post and Jamie Campbell
1:20 pm Co-existence of industrial organic contaminant plumes with municipal water supply wells in fractured rock aquifers Beth Parker
1:40 pm Use of Regional Hydrogeologic Knowledge for Designing Geothermal Energy Source for Low-Carbon Residential Community Warren Lusk
2:00 pm Optimum Use of Source Water Protection Modelling Results Fred Carpio
2:20 pm Groundwater Resources Management in the Grand River Watershed: Community Engagement and Making the Most of Our Water Budget Tools Sonya Strynatka
2:40 pm Break
3:00 pm Enhancing Flood and Drought Forecasting Tools in the South Nation River Watershed Michael Melaney and Steven Frey
3:20 pm Investigation of the Potsdam Group Sandstone Aquifer Vulnerability with the DFN-M Approach Peeter Pehme
3:40 pm An Integrated Investigation of Groundwater – Surface-Water Interactions Under Conditions of Changing Climate in the Great Lakes Basin Elisha Persaud
4:00 pm Wrap-up
Posters
Number Presenter Topic/Title Affiliation
1 Burt Bottoms Up: Developing a New Bedrock Surface for the Niagara Peninsula OGS
2 Bajc 3-Dimensional Mapping of Quaternary Deposits in the Southern Part of the County of Simcoe, Southern Ontario OGS
3 Mulligan Quaternary Geology and Hydrostratigraphy of the Central Simcoe County Area, Southern Ontario OGS
4 Priebe Chemical and Isotopic Evidence of Fragmented Recharge Areas for the Carbonate Aquifers of the Niagara Escarpment OGS
5 Hamilton The Use of Wide Spectrum Groundwater Geochemistry in Regional Groundwater Mapping in Ontario OGS
6 Dell The Ambient Groundwater Geochemistry Program: Pilot Project in Northern Ontario Precambrian Aquifers OGS
7 Benoit Characterization of Full 3D Hydraulic Conductivity Tensors of Hydrostratigraphic Units Applied to Innisfil Creek Watershed, Ontario GSC
8 Clark Using Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Library Well Data in Groundwater Research OGSRL
9 Crow The Bells Corner Borehole Geophysical Calibration Facility of the Geological Survey of Canada GSC
10 de Jong Pinning Down Demand for Groundwater Geoscience: From Narratives to Numbers Queen's U
11 Pugin Near Surface Seismic Database: Future Online GSC Data Delivery GSC
12 Knight A Chemostratigraphic Framework for Southern Ontario: A Progress Report GSC
13 Li Downscaling SMOS/SMAP Soil Moisture Product Using Radarsat Constellation Mission (RCM) Data: A Case Study in Southern Ontario GSC
14 Russell An Animation of the 3D Phanerozoic Geological Model of Southern Ontario GSC