Water on Gambier Island

This page aggregates mirrored provincial aquifer and GWELLS records for Gambier Island parcel region. Of 1,863 regional land parcels, enough are linked to 4 aquifers to meet the coverage threshold. These aquifers carry 248 well records, 3 of them with provincial water-chemistry data, and 1 provincial observation well recording long-term water levels.

Counts use stored parcel-region membership. They are not an island-only geographic wells census. Aquifer totals cover each selected aquifer in full, including any area outside the parcel region; selection requires at least 25 parcels or 5% of regional land parcels.

The aquifers

Aquifer 549 — Southwestern portion of Gambier Island

Bedrock — Fractured crystalline bedrock; 4.1 km²; mapped 2001. Linked to 294 regional land parcels.

Vulnerability Low; productivity Low; demand Moderate; quality concern Isolated.

122 wells on record; 1 artesian.

Provincial factsheet for Aquifer 549

Aquifer 547 — SE portion of Keats Island

Sand and Gravel — Confined sand and gravel - glacio-marine; 0.7 km²; mapped 2001. Linked to 225 regional land parcels.

Vulnerability Moderate; productivity Low; demand Low; quality concern Local.

7 wells on record.

Provincial factsheet for Aquifer 547

Aquifer 548 — Keats Island

Bedrock — Fractured crystalline bedrock; 6.2 km²; mapped 2001. Linked to 131 regional land parcels.

Vulnerability Moderate; productivity Low; demand Low; quality concern Isolated.

15 wells on record; 1 water licence; 1 artesian; 1 wells with provincial water-chemistry data; 1 provincial observation well (#480 Active).

Provincial factsheet for Aquifer 548

Aquifer 558 — Halfmoon Bay

Bedrock — Fractured crystalline bedrock; 10.3 km²; mapped 2003. Linked to 101 regional land parcels.

Vulnerability High; productivity Moderate; demand Moderate; quality concern Local.

104 wells on record; 2 artesian; 2 wells with provincial water-chemistry data.

Provincial factsheet for Aquifer 558

What the ratings mean

The Province classifies each mapped aquifer's intrinsic vulnerability — how easily contamination at the surface could reach the water — as Low, Moderate or High, based on factors like depth to water and what covers the aquifer. A High rating means relatively little natural protection between the surface and the water people draw from. It describes susceptibility, not current contamination. Productivity describes how readily the aquifer yields water; demand describes the level of use. These are the Province's classifications, not ours.

Fractured bedrock in plain terms

Most Gulf and Northern Gulf island aquifers are fractured rock: water sits in cracks in sedimentary or crystalline bedrock rather than in a porous bed of sand and gravel. Fractured-rock aquifers store comparatively little water and move it unevenly, which is why neighbouring wells on the same island can report very different yields, and why the Province rates most of these aquifers Low productivity.

Sources

Aquifer boundaries are a toggleable layer on the island map. This page presents provincial data with explanatory context; it makes no claims about individual wells or properties.