Information Retrieval for the Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement

Denis Couillard

DOI: 10.2190/M44Q-MM7Y-30PE-W3L5

Abstract

A study of the possible advantages of land use analysis (land indicators) appears to be a necessary preliminary step to the selection of data for acquisition. Researchers who report data on the physical, chemical and biological quality of water always do so with reference to the land in the basin under study. Two pertinent questions which arise are therefore: just how far should this analysis go; and how should results be optimally used to solve problems relating to water quality. This article should therefore be considered as a preliminary study towards the development of an integrated method for water quality data acquisition. The choice of data is approached from the perspective of land use and the way in which the data are to be used.

This paper is intended to give a general idea of the physical and human characteristics of watersheds. This appreciation of a basin constitutes the first step in the determination of the problems of environmental impacts. For the Province of Quebec (Canada) as a case study, this publication provides a list of the main reference documents and sources of data on the physical and human characteristics of basins. At first sight, there is virtually no need to collect additional data for the purpose of preliminary interpretation of water quality data.

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