Project: Data Management - Groundwater Protection Fund Projects

Client: Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE)

Objectives:

• Provide a data model, data management software (SiteFX) and training to consultants, municipal representatives and MOE staff involved in the 34 Protection Fund Projects.

Outcomes:

• The proven data model has standardized the databases developed by each of the projects, and this has facilitated the final integration of the 34 individual project databases.
• Built-in Quality Assurance (QA) functions increased the value of the data by identifying and highlighting omissions.

Key Aspects:

• Design of the database is based on the relationship between boreholes and monitors.
• Initial training helped establish a baseline level of database skills within each of the projects.  This was important to preserve the integrity of the data.
• The provision of SiteFX helped many consultants use the data more efficiently.

Project Description:

The MOE funded 34 Groundwater Protection Fund Projects to assist muncipalities across the province to quantify their groundwater resources and develop a sustainable management plan.  Extensive well-log data were provided to the consultants by the MOE as baseline data.  This was complemented over the course of the projects by temporal water-level and quantity data.  This information formed the basis for maps of groundwater vulnerability and other management tools.  The final products of each study are to be returned to the MOE for compilation into a provincial data set.

Standardized data models are an important first step in improving our general data management ability, and also serve to promote the value of the data.

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