| Groundwater Resources Characterization and Wellhead Protection Partnership Study
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Introduction
The City of Hamilton has initiated a Groundwater Resources and Wellhead Protection Partnership Study as an initiative to help protect groundwater resources within the City. The objectives of the study is to ensure a continued safe drinking water supply to Hamilton residents who depend on municipal groundwater supply wells, specifically those in the communities of Freelton, Carlisle, Lynden, and Greensville. |
The outcome of the study include:
• Understanding the hydrogeological conditions and recharge areas that provide drinking water to the City’s four municipal
wellhead areas.
• A broader understanding of groundwater occurrence and flow within the municipality in general.
• Land use policies that harmonize existing and future land uses within groundwater resource protection areas.
• Developing a plan to protect the continued reliability of groundwater quality and quantity.
The City of Hamilton secured funding for this study under the province’s Operation Clean Water. A total of $374,000 has been provided by the Ministry of the Environment to offset the majority of costs associated with the groundwater study.
The study was conducted in partnership with local agencies who have an interest in groundwater resource protection. These agencies
Study Partners are:
Note: Due to large file sizes, the Appendices and the Figures for this report cannot be posted; however, a CD copy is available for purchase for $5.00 each. Contact Source Protection Planning Group, at sourcewater@hamilton.ca
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Groundwater
Groundwater is the water that occurs underground in the spaces within soil and rock. The depth at which all of the void spaces are filled with water is called the water table. Many people in rural parts of the City of Hamilton depend on groundwater from private water wells to supply clean, fresh water for homes, farms and businesses. In the communities of Freelton, Carlisle, Lynden, and Greensville, communal water wells owned by the municipality are used to provide water to residents.
Groundwater is one part of the hydrologic cycle, whereby water is in constant circulation. Rain infiltrates into the ground, where it travels as groundwater to discharge into streams and lakes, where the water evaporates and becomes rain again.
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| Groundwater can become contaminated from various activities that occur at ground surface (including spills, leaks, road salt application, sewage systems, fertilizers, et cetera) if these activities are not managed carefully. It is vitally important that we protect groundwater from contamination and over-use so that it can continue to provide an adequate supply of clean water to the residents of our City who depend on it.
Additional information regarding groundwater, drinking water and water conservation strategies can be obtained from the links to the Study Partners, as well as the following sources:
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For more information on this study please contact:
Chris Shrive, M.Sc., P.Ag.
Senior Project Manager - Source Water Protection
Water and Wastewater Division, Public Works Department
55 John Street North, 6th Floor
Hamilton, Ontario L8R 3M8
Phone: 905-546-2424 x7209
Fax: 905-546-4491
email: Chris.Shrive@hamilton.ca
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