Development and Implementation of Northern Voices, Northern
Waters: NWT Water Stewardship Strategy Slave River and Delta
Partnership, CWN Workshop, December 2012 Photo credit: T. Dwyer
Photo credit: T Dwyer
Slide 2
Northern Voices, Northern Waters Northerners expressed concerns
about their water, which they use for transportation, subsistence,
spiritual, cultural and economic purposes, etc. Collaborative
efforts of Aboriginal leadership, communities, governments,
regulatory boards, environmental non-government organizations and
industry, resulted in a draft Strategy (2009) Public feedback on
the document was sought with the guidance of the Aboriginal
Steering Committee (7 Aboriginal governments, AANDC and GNWT)
Slide 3
NWT Water Stewardship Strategy Vision: The waters of the
Northwest Territories will remain clean, abundant, and productive
for all time. Working together: This strategy stresses the need for
water partners to work together and share ideas and knowledge to
make sound decisions about responsible water use. Released in May
2010
Slide 4
The Action Plan Keys to Success outlined in the Strategy are
broken down into Action Items Deliverable dates and lead agencies
for each Action Item are identified Released in May 2011
Slide 5
Keys to Success (High Level Objectives) Community-Based
Monitoring Develop community capacity to strengthen community
involvement in water stewardship activities, including education,
training, and research and monitoring programs. Develop and
implement collaborative ecosystem-based research and monitoring
programs.
Slide 6
Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP) Community concerns
about the health of fish were brought forward to ENR during Fall
2010
Slide 7
Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP) Conference calls with
communities, Aboriginal governments and organizations, territorial
and federal governments, and researchers to answer the following
questions (Oct-Nov 2010): What has been done before? What is being
done now? Who is doing what? What do communities want to do in the
future? How can we work together?
Slide 8
Whos involved in the SRDP? Deninu Kue First Nation Fort
Resolution & Fort Smith Mtis Councils Members of: Town of Fort
Smith Hamlet of Fort Resolution
Slide 9
Aquatic ecosystem health indicators workshop (Fort Smith,
January 2011) Participants identified concerns about potential
effects of upstream development (oil sands development, hydro,
forestry/pulp and paper, conventional oil and gas, municipal,
climate change, agriculture, historic development (old military
sites, uranium mining, transportation of uranium ore) and
cumulative effects) Can we drink the water? Can we eat the fish? Is
the ecosystem healthy? Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)
Objectives
Slide 10
Slave River and Delta Partnership CIMP Project State of the
Knowledge Report completed What we know Vulnerability Assessment
and Prioritization Workshop completed What we dont know What we
want to know What we want to work on first Slave River and Delta
Partnership (SRDP) Objectives Cost effective, community-based
cumulative effects monitoring program that addresses community
concerns which other northern communities could choose to implement
in the future.
Slide 11
Canadian Water Network CWN and GNWT Workshop (June 2012) -
monitoring experts and local and Aboriginal representatives
provided input on developing an Aboriginal-led community-based
cumulative effects monitoring program for the NWT, using the Slave
River as a pilot program Based on the SRDP Vulnerability Assessment
(Community Priority Questions) Research teams must include experts
on Hydrology, Water Quality, Fish and Benthic Invertebrates, Human
Dimensions of Aquatic Ecosystem Change and Community-Based
Monitoring SRDP and science experts have reviewed EoQs Full
proposals to be developed after December Workshop in Yellowknife
Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)
Slide 12
Community Expectations for A Community-Based Cumulative Effects
Monitoring Program A program that focuses on community concerns,
answers community questions and meets community needs
Collaborative, inclusive and participatory - meaningful community
involvement at all stages in the project Researchers will work with
the SRDP to design the monitoring program A program that is
cost-effective and designed for long-term community monitoring
Clear linkages between the four theme areas no more science for the
sake of science
Slide 13
Meaningful Involvement Clear indication of the role that the
SRDP and communities and Aboriginal organizations will play in all
parts of the research How involved at all stages How researchers
will work with the SRDP to design the program and individual
segments within it Must include all community groups not just one
segment of the community
Slide 14
Clear strategy for communicating and reporting results Problems
in the past with communities getting information and results SRDP
and communities need to be informed throughout SRDP operating
practice: Communities get results first Multiple forms of
communication
Slide 15
Training and capacity-building Meaningful strategy for training
opportunities and capacity- building not just hiring someone to
drive a boat Working with local community members during project
design, field work, and at other stages Must include opportunities
for all groups not just one segment Description/plan for outreach
activities
Slide 16
Inclusion of Traditional and Local Knowledge Improvement on the
inclusion of Traditional Knowledge in a meaningful way and clear
understanding to how this will be accomplished Communities are the
TK holders and scientists should work with community partners to
determine how to involve TK TK protocols Community protocols GNWTs
TK Policy
Slide 17
Best Practices for Incorporating TK GNWT TK Best Practices
Summary outlines 11 Key Elements of Best Practice for gathering and
applying TK in the north. Understand and Acknowledge the Value of
TK Establish and Apply Appropriate Definitions of TK Ensure the
Protection of Sensitive Information Adhere to Community-Based
Protocols Ensure Community Engagement
Slide 18
Best Practices cont Ensure Informed Consent Ensure Local
Ownership and Control of Information Interpret and Present TK in
the Appropriate Cultural Context Provide Benefits for the Use of TK
Follow Formal Research Licensing Guidelines Establish Clear
Communication and Reporting Links
Slide 19
Leveraging funding and resources Identified opportunities for
additional leveraged funds and in-kind support Equipment for
community use Value-added components
Slide 20
Overview of Past Research Concerns Did not answer questions
from the community Limited if any community involvement in
development or implementation of research Community does not want
to just be the boat driver Can provide valuable information on how
and where to sample Results not communicated to community If they
were communicated, it was not done in an accessible way Limited if
any opportunities for training, capacity building and education
Improper inclusion of Local and Traditional Knowledge Slave River
and Delta Partnership (SRDP)
Slide 21
Opportunities for support from GNWT and SRDP member
organizations Coordination Community Relations Communications and
plain language Inclusion of Local and Traditional Knowledge
Advice/comments on future funding proposals Support for CWN/SRDP
work Logistical support/advice Support for permits and
understanding northern research requirements Etc. Slave River and
Delta Partnership (SRDP)
Slide 22
Other Community-Based Monitoring Initiatives Monitoring
Equipment YSI sondes, YSI hand-held meters, GPS units, waterproof
digital cameras, passive samplers (DGTs and PMDS) Training/Capacity
Building YSI training (courses, videos, plain language
instructions) Fish sampling techniques Identifying Possible Funding
Sources Calendar released in January 2012
Slide 23
Slave River and Delta Partnership Studies Fish Health Study
(University of Saskatchewan and DFO) Slave River Delta Lake
Sediment Core Study (WLU/Waterloo) Beaver, muskrat, mink study
(CIMP) * findings released to the community first Slave River and
Delta Partnership (SRDP)
Slide 24
Funded for furbearer (muskrat, mink and beaver) population and
contaminants project in 2012 (1 st priority from Vulnerability
Assessment) Harvest data over time for southern NWT communities is
being gathered from GNWT databases and Hudson Bay records, etc.
Plans are in place for a community-based survey program when ice is
safe for travel and again in the spring contaminant samples,
population and mortality information Slave River and Delta
Partnership (SRDP)
Slide 25
AANDC Slave River Water Quality and Quantity Report AANDC
recently released a report on 35 years of Slave River water quality
and quantity information Results on seasonal assessment of water
quality and quantity trends Environment Canada released a report
(Glozier) on water quality on the Slave, Athabasca and Peace Rivers
Conducting additional monitoring under the joint Canada-Alberta Oil
Sands Monitoring Program
Slide 26
Monitoring equipment that measures what is happening at the
time of sampling YSI Sonde 6600 every 2- 4 hours Measures:
Temperature, Conductivity, pH, Oxidation/Reduction Potential (ORP),
Dissolved Oxygen, Turbidity, Chlorophyll Grab Water Samples 3 to 5
times Measures: Many water parameters Taiga Laboratory,
Yellowknife
Slide 27
Pisces @ Slave River/Delta near Fort Resolution Weather Station
measures wind direction, wind speed, air temperature and barometric
pressure Equipped with a sonde Pisces takes samples at two
different depths every two hours that are then sampled by the
sonde
Slide 28
Grab Water Sample Data Basic Parameters Turbidity Total
Dissolved Solids Total Suspended Solids Specific Conductivity pH
Alkalinity Dissolved Organic Carbon Total Organic Carbon Nitrate
Ions Calcium Chloride Fluoride Magnesium Nutrients Dissolved
Phosphorus Total Phosphorus Dissolved Nitrogen Total Nitrogen
Ammonia Nitrite Chlorophyll a Potassium Sodium Sulphate Dissolved
and Particulate Elements/Metals Aluminum Antimony Arsenic Barium
Beryllium Cadmium Cesium Chromium Cobalt Copper Iron Lead Lithium
Oil and Gas related chemicals Manganese Mercury Molybdenum Nickel
Rubidium Selenium Silver Strontium Thallium Titanium Uranium
Vanadium Zinc Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (Hydrocarbons)
Slide 29
Monitoring equipment that measures what is happening over a
longer time period Passive Samplers Diffusion Gradient in Thin
Films (DGTs) 3 days Measures: Dissolved Metals Trent University,
Peterborough Polyethylene Membrane Device (PMDs) 1 month Measures:
Dissolved Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PACs) University
Alberta, Edmonton
Slide 30
Summer Deployment Plan Working collaboratively with AANDC
(Andrea Czarnecki & Juanetta Sanderson) and Dehcho AAROM
(George Low). 13 sondes in the water this summer during the ice
free season: 2 on the Slave 1 each on the Hay, and Peel Rivers 7 on
the Mackenzie from Providence to Inuvik. 2 in Trout Lake PMD and
DGT samplers will also be deployed at each YSI Sonde location.
Slide 31
Deployment Locations
Slide 32
Erin Kelly Manager, Watershed Programs & Partnerships
Jennifer Fresque-Baxter Watershed Management Advisor Land &
Water Division Environment & Natural Resources Government of
the Northwest Territories For more information about the NWT Water
Stewardship Strategy and the Action Plan, visit the ENR website.
Coming soon www.nwtwaterstewardship.ca!