Township of Michipicoten Municipal Groundwater Study—
Quaternary Geology

The Township of Michipicoten is one of 31 communities participating in the Ontario Ministry of Environment’s Municipal Groundwater Studies. These studies were initiated in August 2001, following the Walkerton, Ontario, water contamination in May 2000.

Approximately three million Ontario residents, comprising more than 200 communities, rely on municipal groundwater-based systems to provide safe drinking water to service the residential, industrial, commercial, and institutional sectors. Of the rural population, approximately 90 percent rely on groundwater for drinking and other uses. The provincial Clean Water initiative characterizes hydrogeological conditions, of which quaternary geology is one component. Quaternary geology consists of rock formations from the beginning of the last ice age two million years ago to the present. The initiative will also focus on the development of immediate and long-term groundwater protection plans for municipalities across Ontario using groundwater as their water supply source.

The quaternary geology polygon layer for this map was obtained from the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines CAD format files. Where data was not available at 1:50,000 scale, a clip of the provincial quaternary geology at a 1:1 million scale was incorporated into the extracted shapefile (southern portion of the study area). David Sawicki, professional engineer and senior geological engineer of Morrison Environmental Limited, performed the verification of quaternary geological unit identification and legend description.

The quaternary geology information for the Township of Michipicoten Municipal Groundwater Studies Report, with other municipal groundwater study reports, will generate a provincial image to assist in the development of future environmental policies and effective groundwater protection strategies.