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This is one of 28 reports that provide the background for the Genuine Progress Indicators (GPI) System of Sustainable Well-being Accounts. It explains how we derived the water index that was earlier published in Sustainability Trends 2000: The Genuine Progress Statement for Alberta, 1961 to 1999. The research for this report was completed near the end of 2000.

The water account addresses issues such as trends in the quantity and quality of both surface (rivers, streams) and groundwater. It answers such questions as:

• What is the quality of water in Alberta's main rivers, how has this changed in recent years, and what differences are there upstream and downstream of the main urban centres?
• What are the impacts of surface water quality on drinking water and fish?
• What did the Northern River Basins Study tell us about the rivers in northern Alberta?
• What effect does agriculture have on surface water quality?
• What are the impacts of agriculture on groundwater quality?
• What impacts does the energy industry have on groundwater quality?
• Is water in Alberta being managed so as to ensure its sustainability for future generations?