Leader: Kent Novakowski
Projects:
- Nutrient Management in a Shallow Bedrock Aquifer
- Regional Groundwater Recharge, Flow and Discharge
- Biofouling and Well Performance
- Agricultural Impacts
- Groundwater-Surface Water Interactions
- Recharge Rates from Hydraulic Head Measurements

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Overview: Recharge and discharge fluxes are critical parameters for understanding, modeling and protecting groundwater systems from overexploitation and contamination. Local-scale sites are characterized by integrating tools from hydrogeology (slug and pumping tests), structural geology (fracture mapping), and geochemistry (stable isotopes and radioisotopes). Regional flow modeling is constrained by local-scale data, remote sensing, regional geochemistry and water well data.
Additional Information:
-Groundwater recharge in bedrock aquifers: rapid, localized and limited. Oral presentation at GSA 2007 Annual Meeting, Denver, October 28-31, 2007. [abstract]
-Identifying watershed-scale barriers to groundwater flow in the Canadian Shield. Oral presentation at 8th Joint CGS/IAH-CNC Groundwater Conference, Ottawa, October 21-24, 2007.[abstract]
-Insignificant groundwater discharge in a fractured rock watershed. Oral presentation at 2007 NGWA/U.S. EPA Fractured Rock Conference, Portland, Maine, September 24-27, 2007.[abstract]
-Lineaments as groundwater barriers in a fractured rock aquifer. Oral presentation at GSA Annual conference, October 2006, Philadelphia. [abstract] [presentation]

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Overview: This research focuses on how biofilm affects well productivity in fractured rock aquifers. Hydraulic tests of following drilling, a year of biofilm growth and subsequent cleaning will be performed to evaluate the loss and recovery of productivity. Biofilm will be characterised using down well videos.
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Overview: Source water protection is paramount for fractured bedrock aquifers where thin overburden provides little protection from contamination and where groundwater velocities are high. The objective of this study is to develop a more thorough understanding of the potential impact of local agricultural activities on the groundwater quality in a bedrock aquifer, focusing on nitrate and bacterial transport.
Additional Information:
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-Agricultural impacts on groundwater in fractured rock - Tay River watershed, Ontario. Poster presentation at OMAFRA Agricultural Research Day, December 2006. Guelph, ON. [poster: 9 Mb]
- Agricultural impacts on groundwater in fractured rock - Tay River watershed, Ontario, Canada. Oral presentation at GSA Annual conference, October 2006, Philadelphia. [presentation]

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Overview: Stable isotopes of water, deuterium and Oxygen-18, were used to explore groundwater discharge in a 1.2km section of the Tay River and recharge patters as a result of rain and snow melt to select wells. No discharge was detected in this section of the river, but recharge patterns were quite striking in the shallow aquifer.
Additional Information:
- Using oxygen-18 and deuterium to investigate complex groundwater - surface water interactions and recharge in a gneissic terrain, Perth, ON. GSA Annual conference, October 2006, Philadelphia. [abstract] [poster]
- Investigating Groundwater - Surface Water Interactions in a Complex Gneissic Terrain, Perth, Ontario. River Institute, Cornwall, ON, May 2006 [presentation]
- Groundwater - Surface Water Interactions in a Fractured Bedrock Environment, Perth, ON. Latornell Conservation Symposium November 2005 [poster]

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Overview: The distribution of permeable fracture zones, transmissivities and fracture apertures were estimated from slug testing using straddle packers at a newly instrumented field site. The discrete fracture zones were monitored for their response to precipitation events. These responses were correlated to real precipitation and barometric pressure data for the local subwatershed.
The low recharge estimates correlate to the minimal storage capacity of the aquifer.
Additional Information:
- MSc. Thesis Abstract, 2006
- Recharge to a Fractured Bedrock Aquifer: Tay River Watershed, Perth, ON. Latornell Conservation Symposium November 2006 [poster: 9 Mb]
- Recharge to Fractured Bedrock in the Tay Valley: Site Characterization and Initial Findings.
Latornell Conservation Symposium November 2004 [poster: 12 Mb]
- Miller Field [photo]
- Miller Field Outcrop [photo]
- Hobo Weather Station [photo

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