Information from this publication may be used if credit is given. It is recommended that reference to this publication be made in the following form:

Wilkie, S.C., Hall, B.D, and Espie, R.H.M. (2017): Total and organic mercury concentrations in trapper river otter (Lontra canadensis) from central Saskatchewan; in Willet, E. and Kelley, L.I., eds., The Boreal Watershed Initiative, Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment, 25p.

Information from this publication may be used if credit is given. It is recommended that reference to this publication be made in the following form:

Wilkie, S.C., Hall, B.D, and Espie, R.H.M. (2017): Total and organic mercury concentrations in trapped river otter (Lontra canadensis) from central Saskatchewan; in Willet, E. and Kelley, L.I., eds., The Boreal Watershed Initiative, Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment, 25p.

Executive Summary 1

Boreal Watershed Initiative Executive Summary

Lynn I. Kelley and Kevin McCullum

Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment 3211 Albert St., Regina, Saskatchewan, S4S 5W6, Canada

1. Introduction Canada’s boreal forest, including northern Saskatchewan, contains some of the largest and highest-quality freshwater resources on Earth. The quality of these resources depends in large part upon the ecological integrity of the watersheds in which they reside. Many northern water bodies are sensitive to stressors such as acid precipitation due to a lack of buffering in watershed soils. Differences in bedrock geology (Figure 1) give rise to differences in sensitivity of landscapes to environmental stressors. The Boreal Watershed Initiative was created and launched in the spring of 2011 under the direction of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment. The Boreal Watershed Initiative was conceived as a scientific investigation program with a mandate to assess and establish baseline parameters for Saskatchewan’s northern watersheds. The five-year study, funded at one million dollars per year, was carried out by ministry scientists and external collaborators, including scientists from other levels of government, universities and industry. These partners also made financial and in-kind contributions that significantly leveraged the province’s investment and brought fresh perspectives to the scientific work completed.

Figure 1-Simplified bedrock geology of Saskatchewan

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Figure 2-Ecoregions of Saskatchewan

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The Boreal Region of Saskatchewan is defined for this project as roughly that portion of the province between the southern edge of the commercial forest and the northern provincial boundary (i.e., the portion of the province north of the Boreal Transition Ecoregion (Figure 2)). The region hosts approximately 100,000 lakes, interconnected by rivers and streams, and contains some of the highest-quality freshwater resources in the world. In this natural freshwater reservoir of global significance, water quality and availability are dependent upon the integrity of watersheds. Some 45 technical reports and associated geospatial databases were compiled in conjunction with the Boreal Watershed Initiative. This executive summary recaps the thematic studies and results. All of the reports and databases are available on digital media upon request to the Client Service Office, Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment. a) Purpose The primary purpose of the Boreal Watershed Initiative was to inform science-based risk assessment and decision-making pertaining to Saskatchewan’s north, focusing on three broad themes:

• Baseline Conditions: assess the current state of key environmental components in strategic locations across the boreal region;

• Monitoring of Change: measure changes over time in key environmental components brought about by natural causes and/or anthropogenic (human-caused) effects (e.g. habitation and industrial development) influencing the region;

• Assessment of Integrity: evaluate the integrity of key components of the environment in terms of responses to multiple stressors and modeled predictions of responses to stressors. Future work may lead to an improved understanding of indicator responses and environmental trade-offs at various thresholds of development.

b) Approach Thematic studies carried out under the Boreal Watershed Initiative were diverse in scope and approach. As an example, some studies are direct measures of water chemistry for a specific time and location, while others use indirect indicators that integrate broader environmental conditions over an extensive space or range of time. In many cases, the thematic studies described below were chosen to gauge the effect of environmental stressors which act upon ecosystem components in the boreal region. Some of these stressors include:

• Extra-jurisdictional (transboundary) sources of pollutants. Emissions from outside the province are considered potential sources of acidifying emissions and other air-

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borne pollutants. An example would be the oil sands developments in the vicinity of Fort McMurray, Alberta;

• Linear developments, which can result in destruction and fragmentation of landscapes through activities such as building of roads, pipelines, and rail lines, and the cutting of geophysical survey grids, and power corridors;

• Water use, sanitation practices and effluents discharged from both organized long-term settlements, new settlements, including cottage developments and temporary settlements such as traplines, hunting and fishing camps; and mineral or petroleum exploration camps;

• Development of mineral resources. The region includes the Athabasca Basin, home to the largest high-grade uranium deposits in the world, and the Beaverlodge camp, centred on Uranium City. Exploration activity for uranium, gold, base metals, and rare-earth elements is focused on areas of favourable geology in various parts of the region;

• Development of petroleum resources. The oil sands of the Cretaceous Dina Formation in Alberta extend east into Saskatchewan. These rocks have been the subject of intense exploration and evaluation. Oil shale prospects in the Pasqua Hills are less advanced, but may represent a future resource;

• Forestry. Commercial timber harvest can alter the forest significantly. Modern re-forestation practices restore some desirable features;

• Variation in climatic conditions, which affects all components of the landscape and its inhabitants;

• Forest fires, which modify and renew boreal landscapes. Anthropogenic uses of the landscape increase the risk of forest fires. Current fire research also suggests that changes are occurring with the climatic conditions that may alter the frequency and intensity of fires.

Thematic studies Thematic studies focused on assessing the integrity of specific ecosystems components. These studies are grouped by ecosystem components into categories involving water quality, aquatic ecosystems, air, soil, terrestrial ecosystems and traditional knowledge and biodiversity.

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2. Aquatic Research and Monitoring

a) Introduction Aquatic research for the boreal region varies from local to regional issues and priorities. Under the Boreal Watershed Initiative, work commenced or continued on regional-scale issues for aquatic systems relating to trans-boundary atmospheric pollutant deposition (acidification, nitrogen-eutrophication, assessment of organic pollutants in lakes, and late winter snowpack chemistry), and a local-scale case study on uranium mining collateral (metals contamination and potential transport pathways). The projects categorized as aquatic research are inter-related to varying degrees, and extend to studies in other disciplines, such as air quality studies (emissions-deposition), parallel studies on acid and nutrient-nitrogen sensitivity of boreal soils (watersheds), assessments of trends in the boreal region using tree cores for historical reconstructions (dendrochronology), and other supported regional aquatic monitoring activities. b) Thematic studies—description and findings Status of boreal headwater lakes and sensitivity to acid deposition This involved chemical analysis and measurement of biological indicators in 263 boreal lakes from 2007-2011, with related paleolimnology (sediment core) studies on 10 lakes. Aspects of this overall work continued through 2016.

• Emissions of pollutants from the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) have the potential to impact Saskatchewan boreal ecosystems – especially acid precursors sulphur and nitrogen. The geology of boreal ecoregions in Saskatchewan is varied and some areas are less able to buffer acid inputs so may be at higher risk of acidification.

• The Ministry of Environment applied a stratified-random lake selection process to assess acid sensitivity/status of some 260 headwater lakes within 300 kilometres (km) of the main industrial area of the AOSR (Figure 3). Headwater lakes were selected for the spatial assessment due to generality of increased acid sensitivity and lower level of watershed complexity.

• Lake chemistry surveys confirmed that the Boreal Plain ecoregion, nearest to the AOSR, is generally much less acid sensitive than the more distant Boreal Shield ecoregions (Athabasca Plain and Churchill River Upland). A map generated from Saskatchewan’s lake assessment dataset illustrates the general spatial distribution of lake acid neutralizing capacity (Figure 3).

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Figure 3-Northwest Saskatchewan headwater lake survey 2007-2011: interpolated lake acid neutralizing capacity.

• The measured chemistry found that no lakes were chronically acidified by mineral acids, but many lakes are poorly buffered to acid inputs, especially on the predominantly sandy, quartz-rich Athabasca Plain.

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Potential effects of atmospheric nitrogen deposition and regional climate change on boreal lakes This paleolimnology project began in 2014 by evaluating multiple indicators in 16 boreal lakes using an impact-control design. This is an ongoing project funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) to Queens University and University of Regina, with Saskatchewan co-funding. Emissions of nitrogen from the AOSR (and globally) are increasing, and this trend is likely to continue. Nitrogen is a nutrient which can stimulate aquatic and terrestrial primary productivity, as well as have other effects. Increased nitrogen inputs may be sequestered by terrestrial ecosystems, but saturation and seasonal processes can lead to more nitrogen leaching from soils to lakes, causing ecological changes over the long term.

• In winter 2014, 18 lakes selected from the 2007-2011 provincial lake survey database were sampled for sediment cores. Selection was based on geographic locations and nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratios (i.e., different levels of limiting nutrients), as well as other criteria (i.e., lakes that are not acid sensitive). The control-impact spatial design was used to potentially separate regional-scale climate-change effects from potential effects of nitrogen deposition. Both of these effects are assumed to have increased for boreal watersheds in Saskatchewan located closer to the large emission sources in the AOSR. This project is scheduled to be completed in 2017.

Snowpack chemistry surveys to assess levels of acid deposition This project aimed to make a spatial assessment of snowpack chemistry in northwest Saskatchewan, within approximately 200 km of the AOSR. Snow cores were collected at 55 sites in 2013 and 18 sites in 2014. Due to the remoteness of the downwind area of northwest Saskatchewan, conventional instrument measurement of acid deposition is limited, requiring alternative means of dispersed seasonal measurements.

• Concentrations of nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) in the snowpack were low, but nitrate values were, on average, approximately double the sulphate equivalents.

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• Base cations did not follow the same spatial pattern as N and S. They tended to be elevated closer to the AOSR, although local enrichment of base cations linked to geology (carbonate rocks and derived glacial sediments) may be involved.

• The recent provincial snowpack survey data is being compared to recent modelled deposition by Environment and Climate Change Canada and to other regional measurements.

• Future snowpack work needs to be refined and preferably augmented with other deposition measurement methods. A number of factors complicate the use of snowpack to assess pollutant loadings, but with sufficient spatial density, local replication, and careful site selection, the approach could be useful in remote areas.

3. Aquatic Ecosystems in the Boreal Region a) Introduction The intent of thematic studies within this section was to assess the health of Saskatchewan’s boreal aquatic ecosystems. This was done by using key indicator species or groups of species that use the aquatic systems of the province in unique ways. The species studied in this section included some which are highly sensitive to local living conditions, such as benthic macroinvertebrates and dragonflies and apex predators, such as loons and otters, which incorporate conditions of their prey and reflect conditions of their environment. This diversity of study species allowed for a broad overall assessment of the health of Saskatchewan’s northern aquatic systems. b) Thematic studies—description and findings Blood chemistry of common loons The objective of this study was to assess whether common loons breeding in northwestern Saskatchewan are experiencing exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and mercury (Hg) exposure, and if so, to what extent. Loons were captured during the nesting season (early June) of 2014 and 2015. Blood samples were taken and the birds released.

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• Mercury concentrations were low for all individuals. Since Hg levels are low in loons, then it follows that fish in their breeding lakes are also low in Hg.

• Elevated concentrations of PAHs in the feathers and blood of several birds were found, suggesting that some individuals are being exposed to PAHs on their wintering grounds, their breeding grounds, or both.

Mercury concentrations in the eggs of gulls The objective of this study was to quantify mercury concentrations in gull eggs from different areas of the province and allow comparisons with eggs collected as part of a larger study across Western Canada

• Fish-eating birds, such as the gulls involved in this study, reflect changes in food web dynamics and alterations in environmental contaminant concentrations.

• Total Hg concentrations in Saskatchewan gull eggs varied considerably from location to location, with California Gull eggs from Pelican Lake having the highest concentrations for that species. Mercury concentrations in Herring Gulls from eastern Lake Athabasca were the highest recorded. This is likely in large part due to the Herring Gull’s behaviour of foraging higher on the food pyramid than the other gull species.

Mercury in river otters Mercury (Hg) concentrations were measured in fur, liver and kidney tissues removed from 203 river otters collected in central Saskatchewan with support from the Saskatchewan Trappers Association over the 2012 and 2013 trapping seasons.

• Total Hg concentrations measured in otter tissues from Saskatchewan were consistent with tissues measured in other non-impacted sites in Canada.

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• Fur total Hg was positively correlated with total and organic Hg measured in liver and

kidney tissue, highlighting the potential for using fur as a rapid and less-expensive method of monitoring Hg in mammals.

• Otters trapped in proximity to the now decommissioned smelter located at Flin Flon, Manitoba, contained the highest concentrations of total Hg measured in the study.

Potential utility of dragonfly species as ecological indicators in wetland and open-water habitats This study involved an opportunistic survey of dragonfly occurrences and distribution and an investigation of species-environmental relationships carried out by Saskatchewan Polytechnic Applied Research.

• Dragonflies display excellent potential as ecological indicators of wetlands and open waters. They are ubiquitous in terms of wetland and open-water distribution and display natural groupings according to habitat type.

Benthic macro-invertebrates pilot study The approach taken for the pilot study was a rapid bio-assessment based on Environment and

Climate Change Canada’s Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (CABIN) protocol. Species composition, density, relative abundance, dominance structure, and natural variability of benthic macro-invertebrate (BMI) communities were assessed to determine the potential suitability of using BMI communities as an indicator of stress to the aquatic environment.

• With a few exceptions, water chemistry parameters at all sites were within the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines (CEQGs) for the protection of aquatic life and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment Drinking Water Quality Objectives.

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Data collected in the pilot study allowed calculation of normal ranges of variability (±2 standard deviations) in various metrics measuring the density, diversity, and richness of the BMI community, and provided baseline thresholds for riffle habitat. The abundance and diversity of the BMI community in the run habitat sites have the potential to be used for assessing changes in aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem health.

Benthic macro-invertebrates, North Saskatchewan River Three reference sites were established upstream of the historic Prince Albert pulp mill and three “at-risk” sites subject to pulp mill effluent exposure were established downstream.

• Results suggested a distinct break between biologically favourable conditions upstream and less desirable conditions downstream.

• Given the variety of water quality influences operating on the North Saskatchewan River in the vicinity of Prince Albert, it was recommended that more emphasis be placed on before-after comparisons rather than control-impact.

Benthic macro-invertebrates, Firebag Hills This project used the Reference Condition Approach (RCA) to assess the aquatic ecosystem health of a stream. The RCA method uses data collected at reference sites where anthropogenic effects are minimal to build reference models based on environmental characteristics. Sites with suspected impacts are considered “test” sites; these can be evaluated against the reference model.

4. Boreal Region Air Quality

a) Introduction Air pollutants in Saskatchewan originate from local, regional, and global sources. Major influences on air quality include industrial emissions, vehicle emissions, forest fires, and agricultural operations. Air quality therefore depends on the rate at which pollutants are emitted into the atmosphere and the ability of the atmosphere to disperse these pollutants. Measuring and evaluating air quality is an important activity in maintaining Saskatchewan’s good air quality. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment operates a network of air quality monitoring stations across Saskatchewan.

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b) Thematic studies—description and findings Air quality monitoring in the boreal region

• Ambient air quality is monitored by Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment at two permanent stations in the boreal region (Buffalo Narrows and Prince Albert) and also by the Western Yellowhead Air Management Zone (near Meadow Lake). Within this region, the ministry deployed passive samplers at 10 other locations and operated the Saskatchewan Air Monitoring Laboratory (SAML) at several locations. In addition a wet deposition network was established in the province with two sites located in the boreal region (Points North and Buffalo Narrows)

• Ambient air quality monitoring in the boreal ecoregion has not shown any parameters to exceed Saskatchewan’s Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter.

• Passive monitoring results demonstrated very low concentrations of ozone, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides, with no noticeable trends in the data and relatively uniform concentration values across the boreal ecoregion. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment has suspended operation of the passive network, given the low concentration results and increased availability of continuous monitoring results from other monitoring systems.

• Wet deposition results to date have not indicated any adverse effects of acidic precipitation, based on the measurement of pH and Potential Acid Input (PAI). However, the monitoring period has not been long enough to provide any statistical trend.

5. Soils of the Boreal Region a) Introduction A series of studies documented physical and chemical characteristics of boreal and taiga soils in the province, and identified the risk of potential damage to forests associated with atmospheric deposition of sulphur and nitrogen (S and N). The critical load (CL) concept was used to investigate potential impacts to upland forests through the processes of acidification (S and N) and eutrophication (N). This work complemented the headwater lakes study and snowpack surveys in developing a more complete understanding of landscape sensitivities to acid inputs.

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b) Thematic studies—description and findings Soil properties and geospatial database Two hundred upland forest sites (Figure 4) spanning the Mid-Boreal Upland, Athabasca Plain, Churchill River Upland, Selwyn Lake Upland, and Tazin Lake Upland ecoregions of the province, were sampled in 2011 and 2012. The sites were selected to be free of disturbances (i.e. land clearing, roads, fire), and to be geographically distributed across each ecoregion as site access allowed. Vegetation type was characterized at each site and a soil pit was excavated. Soil characteristics were described in the field and multiple soil samples were collected and underwent detailed laboratory analyses to quantify physical and chemical properties.

• All data generated in the soils components of the Boreal Watershed Initiative were archived in an ArcGIS geospatial database. The database contains positional information for each location sampled, soil description, and characteristics, as well as photographs of the excavated soil profile and surrounding terrain.

• Laboratory results for cation exchange capacity, nutrients, major elements, metals, and oxide content are also documented in the database.

Base cation weathering The potential for weathering processes to release base cations to soil solution was quantified, as the base cation weathering rates are key determinants of sensitivity of soils to acid deposition.

• In general, base cation weathering rates are low in the Boreal Shield (Athabasca Plain and Churchill River Upland) and Taiga Shield ecozones, with higher rates and greater variability occurring in the Mid-Boreal Uplands.

• Lower weathering rates in northern ecoregions can be attributed to the sandy, quartz-rich nature of the soils, and also to thin soil depth at taiga sites.

• Sites with higher weathering rates, particularly in the south-eastern Mid-Boreal Upland, are attributed to finer-textured soils and the presence of easily weathered base cation-bearing minerals (i.e. carbonates).

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Figure 4: Location of the upland forest soil sampling locations in the Mid-Boreal Upland (MBU), Churchill River Upland (CRU), Athabasca Plain (AP), Selwyn Lake Upland (SLU), and Tazin Lake Upland (TLU) ecoregions. Critical loads of acidity Critical loads of acidity were calculated to determine the CL of S as well as the CL of total acidity (S and N) in order to assess the risk of potential acidification in the future.

• Critical loads of S were generally low for the four shield ecoregions, although the Churchill River Upland exhibited more variability. The shield ecoregions are the most acid-sensitive.

• Critical loads of S closely reflect base cation weathering rate patterns. • Critical loads of total acidity are moderately higher than CLs of S (Figure 5) owing to

retention of N in soil and uptake by vegetation.

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Critical loads of nutrient nitrogen Critical loads of nutrient N (CLnutN) were determined to assess the risk of terrestrial eutrophication. Nitrogen deposition is a concern, as N is commonly the limiting nutrient in upland boreal forests of the region and emissions of this pollutant (especially ammonia and nitrogen oxides) are growing at a faster rate than for S. Critical loads of nutrient N were calculated under the assumption that forest fires are the dominant disturbance regime.

• Mid-Boreal Upland sites generally exhibit the highest CLnutN, taiga sites are consistently low, and sites on the boreal shield were intermediate. This latitudinal pattern can be explained by a greater proportion of Mid-Boreal Upland sites dominated by deciduous trees versus the almost exclusively coniferous stands of taiga and boreal shield sites, and a northward decrease in forest growth rate coincident with length of growing season.

• Nitrogen deposition generally decreases northward across the boreal and taiga ecoregions of the province, with the highest deposition occurring at the forest-grassland transition, where agricultural applications can contribute to elevated N deposition.

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6. Terrestrial Ecosystems a) Introduction Landscape degradation and fragmentation caused by natural and anthropogenic activities diminish wildlife habitat and present challenges to the viability of charismatic species such as caribou and wolverine. b) Thematic studies—description and findings Landscape disturbance mapping Both natural and anthropogenic disturbances affect Saskatchewan’s northern ecosystems, including the animals that live there.

• One of the most influential agents of disturbances in northern Saskatchewan is wildfires. In order to better understand the extent and severity of these “natural” disturbances, a series of satellite imagery spanning the years 1988 to 2014 was analyzed. Accurate boundaries of fires were delineated and a burn severity value was applied to each fire.

• The overall methodology to delineate the fires and assign severity will continue on a yearly basis following each fire season, so that the database remains current. Fire is by far the greatest contributor to landscape disturbance values in the Boreal Shield ecoregion, with only three of the 22 landscape areas having less than 35 per cent natural disturbance.

• For anthropogenic disturbance mapping, high-resolution (60cm/pixel) aerial photography of most of northern Saskatchewan (provided through the Saskatchewan Government Imagery Collaborative, SGIC) was loaded into the ministry’s geographic information system (GIS). GIS analysts classified and digitized the various features that could be detected when zoomed into the images at a screen scale of 1:5,000.

Executive Summary 18

Genetic mark and recapture of wolverines After reviewing many years of historical trapping data, 26 collection sites (stations) spaced at least five kilometres apart were established north of La Ronge in late January and early February 2013. The stations include a combination of hair-catching devices and motion-sensor cameras set up around frozen deer carcass baits in order to capture images of the animals that approached the stations.

• The intent of the study was to see how effective the use of hair traps when combined with motion sensor cameras would be in collecting information for potential future studies. The target species were the mustelids and it appears that the method worked very well at attracting Marten, Short-tailed Weasel, and Fisher.

• While no wolverines were observed at the camera/hair trap stations, other mustelids frequented the stations. It would seem reasonable that wolverines would also have used the sites had they been present in the area. As this was a test of the technique, while hair samples were collected, the samples did not undergo genetic analysis.

7. Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity a) Introduction Combining scientific and traditional knowledge (TK) is important for designing adaptation strategies so that they are scientifically sound and truly connected to local value systems, needs, and priorities. One element of the Boreal Watershed Initiative was to identify available traditional knowledge, including aboriginal harvest and cultural sites. b) Thematic studies—description and findings

Eastern Athabasca Regional Monitoring Program (EARMP) EARMP consists of two parts, a technical program and a community program. The technical program is science-based and addresses conventional technical indicators of environmental quality, including water, animal, and soil quality. Conversely, the community program was designed to be innovative, community-guided, and informed by local traditional knowledge. The EARMP community program allows knowledge keepers, local country food harvesters, and community leadership to investigate and assess the quality of their local country foods and have input into the sampling program.

Executive Summary 19

• The EARMP program’s community-led country food sampling program shows that wildlife and plants consumed by northern people are safe to eat. Those foods not only showed safe (and often undetectable) amounts of chemical contaminants, but foods that are lower in fat, higher in protein, and overall nutritionally superior to foods purchased at the local grocery store.

• The EARMP technical program collects data on water and sediment chemistry, fish flesh and bone chemistry, and benthic invertebrate communities from four far-field locations downstream from active uranium mining operations, and three reference locations more distal and upstream from the operations. Water chemistry, sediment chemistry, benthic invertebrate community, and fish tissue chemistry endpoints were assessed against available guidelines and the reference range to establish whether endpoints are currently within expected background levels of the region. The reference range is defined as the reference mean ± 2 standard deviations or the 95 per cent confidence interval. With few exceptions, endpoints were found to be below guidelines and/or within the reference range.

Traditional knowledge and science education

Workshops offering hands-on, engaging TK education to students in Beauval, Ile-a la-Crosse, Buffalo Narrows, La Loche, Prince Albert, and La Ronge were conducted, each with a different environmental and TK focus. The workshops focused on enabling students to recognize that local history, storytelling, spirituality, and holistic concepts of health and well-being are connected to contemporary environmental issues.

• School education programs not only connected young learners with respected community elders, but also generated local environmental quality data for schools, families, and communities to explore and discuss.