The Base Hydrography Point Update layer contains hydrographic point features representing the locations of water or water related features, it is an updated of the Base Features Hydro Points in Southern Alberta from orthophoto and various sources of provincial base data.

This map displays an assessment of surface water quality risk for the agricultural area of Alberta. Agricultural activities that may have an impact on surface water quality, including livestock, crop production and agrochemical use, were identified and used to produce this map. The classes shown on the map were ranked from 0 (lowest risk) to 1 (highest risk).This resource was created in 2002 using ArcGIS.

This project generated unique numerical codes at the pixel level to provide wall-to-wall coverage of 128 unique Catchment Structural Units (CSUs) codes based on land use-land cover (LULC), surficial geology, wetlands and slope across the Province. The Provincial CSU layer represents the quantification of combined structural influences at an individual pixel scale, as expressed by a specific numeric and text code. These codes reflect the geospatial layers used to represent catchment structure. The CSU data is presented at a pixel resolution of 20 x 20 m and five initial structural layers (i.e., land cover, land use, surficial geology, wetlands and slope). This resolution was chosen to balance detail with computational efficiency. Each class within the structural layers were assigned unique numeric codes of different orders of magnitude.

This map displays the risk of soil degradation by water in the agricultural region of Alberta. Water erosion is a concern because it reduces soil quality by removing soil particles and nutrients, and reduces water quality if these particles are carried into nearby water bodies. The map uses five classes to describe the water erosion risk on bare, unprotected mineral soil: negligible, low, moderate, high and severe.This resource was created using ArcGIS, originally published as a print map in 1993 .

The Fish Management Zone dataset is comprised of all the polygons that represent the Fish Management Zones in Alberta. Fish Management Zone is an area having its own unique assemblage of water bodies, species of game fish and management regimes.

The data represents the density of wetland habitat in the agricultural region of Alberta in 2002. Wetlands are depressional areas that are wet for a long enough period that the plant and animals living in them are adapted to, and often dependent on, living in wet conditions for at least part of their life cycle. In drier areas of the province, wetlands tend to be more intermittent, while in wetter areas, wetlands tend to be more persistent. Topography also affects the occurrence of wetlands. Hummocky landscapes allow for pooling of water in depressions, while landscapes with longer slopes (e.g. the foothills) generally have better defined surface drainage patterns. A wetland in influenced by the interaction between the wet area, the wetland margin and upland area.Wetlands provide important habitat for waterfowl and many other types of wildlife. Wetlands reduce the impact of flooding, provide erosion control, purify water by removing sediment and nutrients, and contribute to groundwater recharge. This resource was created using ArcGIS.

Flood studies include detailed engineering reports and flood maps. The engineering reports are typically technical in nature and document the data, assumptions, and results of the hydrologic and hydraulic analyses required to create flood maps. Flood maps are created by combining hydraulic model results for different sized floods with high-accuracy ground information. Flood maps identify where water will flow during a flood, and what land could be flooded during different sized floods. Most flood maps focus on floods caused by high river flows when water escapes the river channel, most often experienced in spring or following summer rainstorms, but they can also show areas at risk from ice jam floods or document the extent of historic floods.Flood inundation maps show areas at risk for different sized floods, including ice jam floods in some communities, and identify areas protected by flood berms. Because they map a wide range of floods, they are most often used for emergency response planning and to inform local infrastructure design. Flood hazard maps define floodway and flood fringe areas for the 1:100 design flood and are typically used by communities for planning or to help make local land use and development decisions. The floodway is the portion of the flood hazard area where flows are deepest, fastest and most destructive. The flood fringe is the portion of the flood hazard area outside of the floodway, where flood water is generally shallower and flows slower than in the floodway. High hazard flood fringe is the area within the flood fringe with deeper or faster moving water than the rest of the flood fringe. Protected flood fringe identifies areas that could be flooded if dedicated flood berms fail or do not work as designed during the 1:100 design flood. Flood hazard maps define floodway and flood fringe areas for the 1:100 design flood and are typically used by communities for planning or to help make local land use and development decisions. Flood hazard maps can also illustrate additional information for communities to consider, including incremental areas at risk for floods larger than the 1:100 design flood, such as the 1:200 and 1:500 floods.Visit www.floodhazard.alberta.ca for more information about the Flood Hazard Identification Program. The website includes different sections for final flood studies and for draft flood studies. Flood maps can be viewed directly using the Flood Awareness Map Application at www.floods.alberta.ca. The Alberta Flood Mapping GIS dataset is updated when new information is available or existing information changes. therefore, the Government of Alberta assumes no responsibility for discrepancies at the time of use. Users should check https://geodiscover.alberta.ca/ to verify they have the most recent version of the Alberta Flood Mapping GIS dataset.

The Aquifer Vulnerability Index (AVI) is a method of assessing the vulnerability of aquifers to surface contaminants in Alberta. An aquifer is a geological formation that is permeable enough to transmit sufficient quantities of water to possible to support the development of water wells. In the assessment of aquifer vulnerability to potential contamination, the depth to the aquifer and the types of geological materials above them are considered. For example, aquifers closer to the surface overlain with pervious surface materials are more vulnerable to contaminants, as compared to aquifers found deeper and covered with a thick layer of impervious material. The AVI ratings indicate the potential of surficial materials to transmit water withy contaminants to the aquifer over a period of time. This data was created in 2002 using ArcGIS.

This dataset is produced for the Government of Alberta and is available to the general public. Please consult the Distribution Information of this metadata for the appropriate contact to acquire this dataset. The Base Watersheds data was created by re-working and post-processing the digital elevation data from the Alberta Provincial Digital Elevation Model, the digital hydrography data from the Base Stream and Flow Representation Lines, the Base Waterbody Polygons and the Base Hydrography Point Events and the digital boundaries of the ATS Version 4.1 Alberta Provincial Boundary. The digital elevation data was hydrologically corrected using simplified versions of the Base Stream and Flow Representation Lines and the Base Waterbody Polygons. The digital watersheds were created using the hydrologically corrected filled Alberta Provincial Digital Elevation Model data as a base and the simplified versions of the Base Stream and Flow Representation Lines and the Base Waterbody Polygons as pour points. The routes were created from the raw and simplified versions of the Base Stream and Flow Representation Lines using the names or the longest stream as the base. Strahler Order coding was applied to the simplified version of the Base Stream and Flow Representation Lines and the Base Waterbody Polygons as well as the digital watersheds. Hydrocoding was applied to the routes. The reaches were not created but would be generated using the simplified version of the Base Stream and Flow Representation Lines as a base and the hydrologically corrected filled Alberta Provincial Digital Elevation Model plus the Base Hydrography Point Events to determine the breaks. The Base Watersheds consists of four data packages: Base Watersheds - Hydrologically Corrected Filled Digital Elevation Model (DEM), Base Watersheds - Simplified Hydrography, Base Watersheds - Watersheds and Base Watersheds - Routes. The four data packages are composed of: Base Watersheds Hydrologically Corrected Filled Digital Elevation Mode (DEM) Hydrologically Corrected Fully Filled Terrain Hydrologically Corrected Fully Filled 25 Metre Raster Hydrologically Corrected Fully Filled 100 Metre Raster Hydrologically Corrected Partially Filled Terrain Hydrologically Corrected Partially Filled 25 Metre Raster Hydrologically Corrected Partially Filled 100 Metre Raster Simplified Hydrography Simplified Linear Network Lines Simplified Linear Network Points Simplified Hydropolygons Simplified Linear Network Cross Reference Simplified Hydropolygons Cross Reference Strahler Order Coding Watersheds Fully Filled Watersheds Partially Filled Watersheds Strahler Order Coding Routes Single Line Network Routes Simplified Linear Network Routes Hydrocoding These feature datasets, feature classes and tables were generated using the Base Features Derived Watersheds and Hydrocoding Specifications documents. There are six documents in this collection: Overview Strahler Order Coding Filled Hydrologically Corrected Terrain Watersheds Hydrocoding Reaches Full descriptions of the individual datasets are included in the metadata for the four data packages.

This map displays an assessment of groundwater quality risk for the agricultural area of Alberta. Agricultural activities that may have an impact on groundwater quality include livestock, crop production and agrochemical use. These activities along with the physical characteristics represented by aquifer vulnerability and available moisture were combined to produce this map. The classes shown on the map were ranked from 0 (lowest risk) to 1 (highest risk). This resource was created in 2005 using ArcGIS.