This page aggregates mirrored provincial aquifer and GWELLS records for Saturna Island parcel region. Of 532 regional land parcels, enough are linked to 4 aquifers to meet the coverage threshold. These aquifers carry 228 well records, 4 of them with provincial water-chemistry data, and 2 provincial observation wells 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.
Bedrock — Fractured sedimentary rock; 2.9 km²; mapped 2006. Linked to 98 regional land parcels.
Vulnerability Moderate; productivity Low; demand High; quality concern Local. Rock unit: Mesozoic, Northumberland Formation.
76 wells on record; 1 artesian; 3 wells with provincial water-chemistry data; 1 provincial observation well (#290 Active).
Bedrock — Fractured sedimentary rock; 1.4 km²; mapped 2006. Linked to 91 regional land parcels.
Vulnerability High; productivity Low; demand High; quality concern Isolated. Rock unit: Mesozoic, Geoffrey Formation.
115 wells on record; 1 artesian; 1 wells with provincial water-chemistry data; 1 provincial observation well (#319 Active).
Bedrock — Fractured sedimentary rock; 0.3 km²; mapped 2006. Linked to 60 regional land parcels.
Vulnerability Moderate; productivity Low; demand Moderate; quality concern None. Rock unit: Mesozoic, Upper Cretaceous Northumberland Formation.
3 wells on record.
Bedrock — Fractured sedimentary rock; 2.6 km²; mapped 2006. Linked to 44 regional land parcels.
Vulnerability Moderate; productivity Low; demand Moderate; quality concern None. Rock unit: Mesozoic, Upper Cretaceous Geoffrey Formation.
34 wells on record.
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.
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.
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.