About water indicators
Alberta’s Environmental Science Program is responsible for monitoring, evaluating and reporting on Alberta’s waterbodies including lakes, rivers and groundwater. These activities help us to better understand current water conditions and long-term changes over space and time. Explore the indicators below to:
- learn more about why these indicators are important
- read about trends and status in Alberta’s water quality and quantity
- access additional data and relevant resources
Explore water indicators
Water quality monitoring results for chloride concentrations.
Water monitoring results for chlorophyll-a and total phosphorus concentrations and Secchi depth.
Water quantity monitoring results for annual and seasonal water yield.
Feature resources
Large-scale water resource availability in Alberta
Alberta’s water scientists published a new paper providing baseline quantification of water distribution in Alberta and changes in water yield, streamflow timing and climate from 1976 to 2015. Learn about geographic drivers of changing water distributions in Alberta and the disparity between regions of water surplus and deficit.
Learn about Regional Variability and Changing Water Distributions in Alberta.
The scientific foundation for water quality monitoring
Learn about the key scientific questions, approaches and deliverables for a 5-year provincial water quality monitoring, evaluation and reporting plan for rivers and streams across Alberta. The goal of this plan is to provide a scientific foundation for understanding how various natural and anthropogenic stressors are potentially impacting water quality within Alberta’s rivers and streams.
Learn about A five-year provincial water quality plan.
Recent studies on metallurgical coal mining impacts in the Canadian Rockies
Alberta’s scientists have published several studies examining the impacts of metallurgical coal mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Canadian Rockies. This work provides information on conditions and trends in downstream and downwind ecosystems.
Learn more:
- Mountaintop removal coal mining contaminates snowpack across a broad region
- Legacy coal mining impacts downstream ecosystems for decades in the Canadian Rockies
- Transboundary atmospheric pollution from mountaintop coal mining
- Water quality in the McLeod River as an indicator for mining impacts and reclamation success (2005 to 2016)
Related publications
Scientific paper: A geospatial approach to identifying and mapping areas of relative environmental pressure on ecosystem integrity
Date published: September 2024
Authors: Nasr, M. and J.F. Orwin
Scientific paper: Groundwater condition and vulnerability in the Athabasca and Cold Lake oil sands regions: gaps, opportunities and challenges
Date published: September 2024
Authors: Birks, J., J.J. Gibson, J.W. Fennell, C.N. McClain, D. Sayanda, G. Bickerton, Y. Yi and F. Castrillon-Munoz
Scientific paper: Predicting Imminent Cyanobacterial Blooms in Lakes Using Incomplete Timely Data
Date published: January 2024
Authors: Heggerud, C.M., J. Xu, H. Wang, M.A. Lewis, R.W. Zurawell, C.J.G. Loewen, R.D. Vinebrooke and P. Ramaz
Water monitoring
Access data and learn about how Alberta’s Environmental Science Program monitors Alberta’s water quality and quantity: Environmental monitoring.