Three dimensional GIS mapping for groundwater: An example from a Nova Scotia municipality

In recent years, Nova Scotia's groundwater resources have come under significant pressure. Rising demands on local water supplies and an increase in the potential sources of contamination have become important issues in many communities. Municipalities face the difficult and complex tasks of implementing by-laws, guidelines, zoning schemes and planning strategies that will not undermine the health and viability of the local groundwater resources. These tasks are even more difficult in communities where residents depend on groundwater supplies.; Effective water management and planning requires that municipal governments make use of a broad range of tools. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have the potential to be useful for a variety of water related tasks. The traditional types of mapping, however, have not been particularly effective for mapping groundwater resources. There is evidence that there is both GIS and groundwater modeling software that can be valuable for generating three dimensional (3-D) images that could be useful for this process.; In this thesis, a three dimensional groundwater mapping exercise was carried out using the most common GIS software and groundwater data that is readily available to municipalities. Data from the Town of Berwick were used with the intent of providing an example of the sort of three dimensional mapping products that can be generated. Four types of maps were produced as part of this exercise. Each of these final products was evaluated in terms of its ability to address the important water issues in the study area.