Information Series 069

Groundwater Observation Well Network: Athabasca Oil Sands Area

Executive Summary

The Groundwater Division of Alberta Research Council undertook, in 1974, to investigate the regional hydrogeology of the Athabasca Oil Sands. The purpose of this study is to develop a hydrogeological model of the area for use in technical and environmental planning. Some examples of potential uses of the model are: locating water supplies for towns and processing plants, planning dewatering schemes in the vicinity of mines, determining the position of storage sites for solid and liquid industrial waste on the surface or underground, and planning restoration of disturbed land.

Groundwater data is not abundant in the area, so installation of groundwater observation wells was necessary. These observation wells were drilled in groups in order to sample heads and chemistry at various depths below the surface. Seven sites (numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9), containing 36 individual wells, were instrumented in this manner during the winter of 1974-75. Eight sites (numbered 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17), containing 38 individual wells, were instrumented during the winter of 1975-76.

The factual details of this system are important to users for various differing reasons and thus a readily available document outlining these details is warranted. This publication groups the information by site. There is one publication for each well site. Included in each site publication are: 1) geological and geophysical logs; 2) annual hydrographs, 3) drill stem test results, 4) aquifer testing results, 5) well history, 6) water analyses, and 7) well completion details. The page indexing system is also consistent with the updating process. All update volumes will be noted in the Alberta Research Council Lists of Publications.

Each site publication is divided into sections dealing with each individual well in addition to this Introduction and a Legend. There are 15 piezometer nests in the system and thus there are 15 separate site publications in Information Series 69. Table 1 lists the location of wells in the system as of August 31, 1976. Figure 1 indicates the location of these wells. Publications are available as of the date of this document for all sites.

Five oil companies have made available a total of nine wells for inclusion in the system. Data from these wells will be published in the same format as those constructed with government financing.

Place Keywords: 73l; 73m; 74d; 74e; 83i; 83o; 83p; 84a; 84b; 84g; 84h

Theme Keywords: athabasca oil sands; wells