Source Water Protection Risk Assessment
A critical step in developing a source water protection plan is characterizing your source water area. This includes compiling information on the watershed, identifying potential risks to source water, and determining how to manage the identified risks. Identifying, collecting, analyzing, and interpreting the necessary information and data can be a monumental task.
We have attempted to simplify this step in the process by providing a web tool that brings together the relevant data on water quality, water quantity, land use, and other information, and provides resources that allow you to visualize and analyze it.
The tool is called The Healthy River Ecosystem Assessment System (THREATS). It is a web-based tool that helps drinking water providers and others develop source water protection plans for any location or watershed in Alberta.
You can use THREATS to:
- Delineate your watershed
- Characterize activities that are occurring or have occurred in the landscape (e.g., parks, municipal boundaries, land cover)
- Assess water quality and water quantity
- Access data and analysis tools for historical data, projections, and trends
THREATS is for anyone looking to:
- Save money and time in acquiring, processing, and analyzing water-related data in Alberta
- Improve decision-making through greater access to available information and data
Accessing THREATS is free. To register:
- Open https://threats.greenlandgroup.ca/.
- Click sign-in on the top right.
- In the pop-up menu that appears, select "Register" at the top.
- Enter the requested information, including an email address where you can receive a verification code.
- When you are asked to "Select your region," click "Alberta Water Council". If this is not selected, your account will have to be deleted and you will need to register again.
- Log in using your newly registered account.
THREATS enhancements were undertaken as part of the Source Water Protection Phase I: Risk Assessment Tools and Data project.
The following organizations participated on the project team:
- Alberta Environment and Protected Areas
- Alberta Forest Products Association
- Alberta Health
- Alberta Lake Management Society
- Alberta Municipalities
- City of Calgary
- Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance
- Rural Municipalities of Alberta
We gratefully acknowledge the funding provided for this project by Alberta Innovates and Alberta Environment and Protected Areas.