Tatasciore, Domenica, "The Use of Geographic Information Systems in Watershed Management: Floodplain Management Recommendation for the National Capital Region"

The management of watersheds and floodplains is a serious undertaking since its guiding premise is to promote human and environmental integrity. There are many flood hazard zones in Canada's National Capital Region; each various governmental agency advocates floodplain management, but there is considerable duplication with reference to duties, information and datasets.

This thesis begins with an examination of floodplain components, the various pieces of legislation and governmental duties in the National Capital Region and an introduction to the technology of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Next, the pros and cons using GIS are examined with reference to the critical issue of the cost of data acquisition and duplication. GIS applications in watershed /floodplain management are explored noting the successes and the challenges encountered using Case Study examples.

The key research finding, in these case studies, show GIS applications to be successful and efficient in watershed /floodplain management, promoting human integrity and emergency preparedness. In light of this finding, alternative courses of action for the National Capital Region are explored, and a recommendation and implementation procedure promoting overall regional amalgamation of GIS technology and resources. This recommendation ensures that shared resources foster cost-efficiency and eliminate the duplication of datasets and other information.