Stable Isotopes As Tracer Of Water Cycling From Precipitation To Tap
Water Across Canada
Abstract
There is a growing need to address water security issues in Canada in
relation to global warming effects and water management issues. Stable
water isotopes (𝛿2H and 𝛿18O) have become a popular tool to investigate
regional and country level public water distribution systems to identify
regional water resource issues and their underlying causes. In this
study, we built the first national level maps of isotopic values in tap
water across Canada using 576 tap water samples that were collected
during the summer season. Observed isotopic values in tap water follow
similar patterns as precipitation with highest isotopic values in the
coastal and Great Lakes regions and a progressive decrease as
continentality increases with lowest values found in the Rocky
Mountains. We classified the tap water samples based on their supply
sources including groundwater, river and lake. The isotopic values of
tap water sourced from groundwater and river are well-predicted by those
of local annual precipitation whereas those sourced from lakes are
poorly predicted. To explain this difference, we constructed a series of
water balance models to predict the 𝛿2H and 𝛿18O variability of surface
water across Canada. We used a digital elevation model to accumulate the
isotopic composition of local precipitation weighed by precipitation
(total or effective) either monthly, seasonally or annually. These water
balance models strongly improved the predictability of isotopic values
of tap waters sourced from rivers and lakes (particularly the annual
average and monthly weighted summer models, with or without accounting
for evapotranspiration). Conversely, these models did not improve
predictability of the isotopic values in tap water sourced from
groundwater. We argue that isotope values of tap water sourced from
surface water reflect the accumulation and evapotranspiration of
precipitation in catchments whereas groundwater represents an annual
average of the isotopic composition of local precipitation. Regionally,
we find that winter precipitation and snow melt and glaciers melt from
the Rockies contribute to a large part of tap water sources around the
Rockies making them vulnerable to water balance changes with ongoing
climate warming. In eastern Canada water management processes appear to
create some significant evaporative water losses whereas in central
Canada dry continental climate causes significant evaporative water
loss. Our study highlights the cycling of water from precipitation to
tap water across Canada for different tap water supply with implications
for water managements, contamination risks and vulnerability to climate
change. Our models and databases also provide an isotopic baseline for
regionally important water resources monitoring as well as for human
forensic cases.