Join us for the 2026 Ontario Groundwater Geoscience Open House, presented by the Ontario Geological Survey (OGS), Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), and Conservation Ontario Geoscientists. This annual technical conference highlights current groundwater research and projects happening across Ontario.
Now in its 11th year, this collaborative open house brings together federal, provincial, and municipal governments, conservation authorities, academic researchers, and private sector professionals to share updates, research findings, and practical insights related to groundwater science and management across Ontario.
DATE: FEBRUARY 10–12, 2026
IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL OPTIONS AVAILABLE.
LOCATION: Federation Hall, University of Waterloo 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Featured Presentations Include:
Steve Frey (Aquanty) — Characterizing Nutrient Loading Risk to Surface Water and Groundwater with a Fully Integrated Surface Water–Groundwater Model
This presentation examines nutrient loading risks associated with greenhouse discharge in the Leamington region using a fully integrated surface water–groundwater model. The study quantifies transport pathways, groundwater recharge/discharge dynamics, and potential nutrient impacts on rivers, streams, and Lake Erie using advanced modeling approaches.
Description
In the Leamington region of southern Ontario, greenhouse discharge into retention ponds poses a nutrient loading risk to both surface water (SW) and groundwater (GW) through drainage, overland flow and infiltration. However, until now this risk has remained largely unquantified. In this project, a fully-integrated SW-GW model is constructed for 460 km2 of dense greenhouse landscape that includes Leamington and the surrounding area. The model is subsequently used to quantify SW-GW interactions and transport pathways over a 2017 to 2024 daily-transient simulation interval. The hydrostratigraphy in the model is derived from the Geological Survey of Canada’s southern Ontario hydrostratigraphic model and includes 1 bedrock layer, 7 surficial geology layers and 3 soil layers. Land cover in the model incorporates greenhouse footprints, as well as 212 digitized retention pond and wetland features. Spatial resolution of the three-dimensional unstructured finite element mesh that underpins the model ranges from less than 50 m to a maximum of 250 m along surface water features and to a global maximum of 500 m. The model domain extends approximately 1 km into Lake Erie to enable direct tracking of GW discharge into the lake. The model was calibrated against transient surface water flow rates, groundwater heads, and surface water feature expression. Using a recently developed hydraulic mixing cell approach (mass conservative advective transport tracking), transport pathways from the retention ponds are delineated and the cumulative mass loading effect is quantified in the river and stream networks as well as in the GW flow system. Results from the project provide a spatially distributed and temporally varying water balance for the Leamington area, including GW recharge and GW discharge into streams, rivers and Lake Erie, as well as a characterization of potential mass transport pathways for greenhouse-derived nutrients.
The open house aims to update groundwater practitioners and water managers on the latest activities, research, and collaborative initiatives shaping groundwater science in Ontario.
Visit the conference website by clicking the links below, and discover the full speaker list, and registration details.
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