First Nations, industry and members of the public can now access science-based information on water supply in the Omineca region with the release of the Omineca Water Tool, a leading edge, GIS-based program that supports decision-making on water-use planning and approvals.

Traditional hydrologic data analysis requires up to a week to generate information to prepare and adjudicate water licence applications in B.C. With the Omineca Water Tool, users can get information within five minutes.

Water licence applicants can use the information from the Omineca Water Tool to help them during the application process. Likewise, regional water managers can use modelled flow and environmental flow needs information to support their water allocation decisions.

Building on the success of the Northeast and Northwest Water Tools, the Omineca Water Tool summarizes information on all water-use approvals and provides decision-makers with guidance on environmental flows and potential water supply in a format that is transparent, readily accessible and easily interpreted.

The Omineca Water Tool uses innovative technology to summarize existing water licence information and estimate mean annual and monthly discharge for user-defined watersheds. It also provides an overview of watershed characteristics including vegetation and topography along with an overview of current climate and projected climatic conditions.

Developed by the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, together with Foundry Spatial Ltd., the Ministry of Environment and the BC Oil and Gas Commission, the Omineca, Northwest and Northeast Water Tools are unique in North America as water resource decision-support tools.

The Omineca Water Tool generates streamflow information for any user-defined point along a river system in regional watersheds of the Fraser, Peace and Liard Rivers.

Quick Facts:

• The information used in the Omineca Water Tool was developed through a modelling process that used 123 hydrometric stations in B.C., the Yukon and Alaska.
• The Omineca Water Tool allows users to generate reports describing the hydrology of over 670,000 watersheds in the region.
• The Omineca Water Tool includes information on currently active short term approvals and long-term licences issued under the Water Act.

Learn More:

Omineca Water Tool: http://bcwatertool.ca/owt/

Northwest Water Tool: http://bcwatertool.ca/nwwt/ 

Northeast Water Tool:  http://geoweb.bcogc.ca/apps/newt/newt.html

Media Contacts:

Media Relations
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations
250 356-5261