Groundwater Quality - Oil Sands Region

Shallow groundwater and the interaction of these waters with surface water in the mineable area of the Athabasca oil sands region are being examined to assess the role and importance of groundwater in the regional river ecosystems.

Groundwater quality chemistry data is available from 182 shallow groundwater samples collected below the Athabasca, Ells, Muskeg and Steepbank rivers and 2 monitoring wells near an existing tailings impoundment. Additionally 5 surface water samples were also collected for comparative purposes. All samples were collected between 2009 and 2011 and include analyses for up to 60 parameters, including electrical conductivity, pH, temperature, and dissolved oxygen concentration, major ions, trace metals, total concentrations of naphthenic acids, fluorescence intensity using synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy (SFS) and others. Statistical analyses indicate that shallow riparian groundwater proximate to a tailings pond and groundwater collected away from the any tailings pond were indistinguishable for nearly all parameters assessed with a few exceptions. The analyses also identified a small subset of groundwater samples that have some chemical similarities to OSPW (Oil Sands Process-Affected Water). Further investigations may be required to evaluate the nature and ecological significance of groundwater at these locations.

Further context, interpretation and discussion of this data may be found in “Profiling oil sands mixtures from industrial developments and natural groundwaters for source identification,” which was published in Vol. 48 (5), pp. 2660–2670, January 2014 in the journal Environmental Science and Technology and “Assessing risks of shallow riparian groundwater quality near an oil sands tailings pond” published in 2016 in the journal Groundwater (Vol. 54, No. 4, pp. 545-558).

Supplemental Information

Supporting Projects: Canada-Alberta Oil Sands Environmental Monitoring

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field	Value
Last Updated	April 17, 2026, 20:12 (UTC)
Created	April 17, 2026, 20:12 (UTC)
contact_email	enviroinfo@ec.gc.ca
contact_person	{"en": "Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada, 1-800-668-6767, ec.enviroinfo.ec@canada.ca", "fr": "Gouvernement du Canada; Environnement et Changement climatique Canada, 1-800-668-6767, ec.enviroinfo.ec@canada.ca"}
criticality_level	[]
data_dictionary	[]
geographic_scope	["0"]
open_canada_collection	primary
open_canada_date_modified	2015-12-11 05:00:00
open_canada_date_published	2014-03-28 04:00:00
open_canada_keywords	{"en": ["Oil sands", "Water quality", "water quality", "oil sands", "Athabasca River", "trace metals", "major ions", "nutrients", "stable isotopes", "organics", "physical and chemical", "polycyclic aromatic compounds", "naphthenic acids", "watershed", "contaminants", "point source", "non-point source", "under ice", "MacKay River", "Ells River", "Steepbank River", "Muskeg River", "concentrations", "mainstem", "tributary", "event-based sampling", "groundwater", "contaminant source attribution", "tailings pond", "groundwater surface-water interaction", "shallow riparian groundwater"], "fr": ["Sables bitumineux", "Qualité de l'eau", "qualité de l'eau", "sables bitumineux", "la rivière Athabasca", "les métaux traces", "les ions majeurs", "les éléments nutritifs", "stable isotopes", "organiques", "physique et chimique", "les composés aromatiques polycycliques", "acides naphténiques", "du bassin hydrographique", "contaminants", "source ponctuelle", "sources diffuses", "sous glace", "la rivière MacKay", "la rivière Ells", "la rivière Steepbank", "la rivière Muskeg", "concentrations", "tronçon principal", "affluent", "échantillonnage en fonction des événements", "l'eau souterraine", "l'identification des sources de contaminants", "bassins de résidus", "les eaux souterraines et leurs interactions avec les eaux de surface", "les eaux souterraines peu profondes des zones riveraines"]}
open_canada_subject	["nature_and_environment"]
sensitivity_level	unrestricted
title_fr	Qualité des eaux souterraines, Région des sables bitumineux
update_frequency	as_needed