Groundwater Quality in the Oil Sands Region: Determining the Geochemical Status Quo for Change Detection and Attribution Studies

This study investigated groundwater quality trends, anomalies, and hydrogeochemical processes across five previously identified anomalous zones within Alberta’s Oil Sands Region. Groundwater quality data from the Groundwater Observation Well Network (GOWN), Alberta Water Well Information Database (AWWID), Alberta Geological Survey (AGS), and University of Calgary datasets were integrated and subjected to detailed QA/QC assessment. The study evaluated temporal trends using Mann-Kendall analyses, characterized hydro chemical facies, assessed groundwater salinity sources, investigated hydraulic connectivity among aquifers, and established a baseline framework for future groundwater quality change detection and attribution studies. Results indicate that natural saline-water mixing and hydraulic connectivity between geological formations are important controls on groundwater quality variability in the study area.