Research Statement

The Montney Play in British Columbia’s Northeast Region is a world-class unconventional natural gas resource. Water is an essential component of shale gas development and is used for drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fraccing or fracking, is a process where a mixture of water and sand is injected into the deep shale at a high pressure to create small cracks in the rock which allows gas to flow.

In 2010, the Montney Water Project began to complete an inventory and digital compilation of publicly available information on water in the Montney Play. This component of the work focused on surface water resources (lakes, rivers and streams).

Goals

The goals for this project were to:

• Provide digital compilation of watershed characteristics – weather data, water flow data, and vegetation data
• Improve understanding of individual watersheds and surface water in the area

Benefits

The project provides a better awareness of water availability for allocation of water, both by regulators and communities.

Location Details

This project took place in the Montney Play in BC’s Northeast Region.