Surface water quality data

Alberta Environment tests the water quality of surface waters, rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands - across the province. All water quality data is available through a Water Database System.

Data disclaimer: Before utilizing any of these reports, please read the attached disclaimer.

Inventory of Sampling Locations and Water Quality Data

The Inventory of Sampling Locations and Water Quality Data report provides surface water quality sampling locations (stations), number of samples collected (sample count), sample count for four parameter groups (inorganics, trace metals, pesticides, organics), and the date ranges of sample collection.

Lake Water Quality Data

The Lake Water Quality Data report provides data for the lake selected. The report can be viewed in two ways:

  • Detailed Data option: provides all the data over the period of record, for several commonly requested water quality variables. The data are provided in table format.
  • Average Annual Trophic Data option: provides annual averages over the period of record, for three variables that are commonly associated with a lake's productivity or trophic state: total phosphorus, chlorophyll-a, and Secchi disk visibility. The annual averages are provided in table or graph format.
 

Trophic State of Alberta Lakes

The Trophic State of Alberta Lakes report summarizes average yearly values (concentrations) for all years of data for Alberta lakes. The variables summarized are three indicators of a lake's productivity or fertility: total phosphorus, chlorophyll-a and Secchi depth.

River Network Station Water Quality Data

The River Network Station Water Quality Data report provides data for Long-Term River Network monitoring stations in Alberta. The report provides data in two ways:

  • Data download: common water quality variables for one or more stations. The data are provided in table format.

Data used to produce these reports are refreshed frequently from the surface water operational database (WDS). Data will not appear in these reports until they have fully passed the AENV validation process.

These reports are designed for on-screen viewing. Data reports can be downloaded to a comma delimited text file (.csv) and most graphs can be exported to an Acrobat file (.pdf). Reports are best viewed using Internet Explorer browser. Printer-friendly versions are not available at this time.

For further information on how to run these reports, send your questions to AENV-Web.SWQ@gov.ab.ca

If you require data not included in these reports, please contact swq.requests@gov.ab.ca.