Water users operating in Alberta now have access to a valuable online resource: the Alberta Water Tool.

The Alberta Water Tool provides detailed hydrology information for every stream, river and lake in west-central Alberta. Using an intuitive map-based interface, users can generate a detailed report for a given area describing: existing water uses; estimated timing and volume of natural supply; and water needs of the environment; all within the watershed context.

The Alberta Water Tool integrates multiple data sources, allowing users to quickly retrieve information that might otherwise take weeks to produce. The tool follows the approach successfully employed in the development of the B.C. Northeast Water Tool (NEWT) which has been recognized with innovation awards for contributions to sustainable water management.

Water users, regulators and the public now have access to information that will support sustainable water management decisions across western Alberta. The tool was created with the support of the Alberta Upstream Petroleum Research Fund (AUPRF), Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada (PTAC), the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), National Research Council – Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP), and Tecterra.

Providing open access to the tool capitalizes on the more than $1.5 million invested by PTAC through AUPRF and 12 partner companies in the Integrated Assessment of Water Resources, West-Central Alberta project which ran from 2012-2014, in support of sustainable, transparent water decision making in Alberta.

The Alberta Water Tool is free to use for industry and can be accessed at http://alberta-watertool.com. You can also learn more about the Alberta Water Tool through webinars held on the following dates:

    • Tuesday September 19, 11am MDT
    • Wednesday September 27, 2pm MDT

Please visit https://goo.gl/forms/lhvjiiK591lFaMCv1 to register.