NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Sahtu Settlement Area

Tags: physical sciences, petroleum industry, environmental baseline, cumulative effects, industrial development

Objective(s): To establish a watershed framework for assessing cumulative impacts of development.

Project Description: Objective 1: Build a partnership between government, communities, regulators and researchers to develop a watershed-based cumulative impact study in areas of oil and gas exploration in the Sahtu region. The Sahtu Renewable Resource Board (SRRB) can play an important coordinating role in bringing partners together and working with the communities to determine appropriate engagement in the project. The project proposes to engage several monitoring partners in year 1 (via formal and informal discussions) to assist with monitoring design and implementation, and to establish roles and responsibilities of the project participants. Objective 2: Develop a framework to determine watershed characteristics, disturbance level and human use within key watersheds of development and community interest. This objective will involve mapping and characterizing watersheds in the Sahtu region west of the Mackenzie River. This will include watershed delineation (at the scale of 100 km2), topography, erosion sensitivity, human disturbances, areas of proposed and potential development, natural disturbances (vegetation change, fire, slope failures), areas of known groundwater sources and potentially, areas of human use or cultural significance. It may also be possible to develop indices to predict areas of potential fish overwintering habitat. Objective 3: To develop baseline water quality conditions and to assess the health of stream ecosystems as a baseline against which to examine the cumulative impacts of development. The project team will compile existing water quality data for streams draining the Mackenzie Mountains. Water quality data for the Mackenzie River will also be compiled and analyzed so that temporal trends can be determined. A water quality and stream health assessment will be designed with input from communities and regulators to determine baseline conditions throughout the watersheds and streams of key interest. In year 1, a modest sampling program will be undertaken with participation from the communities. Community participation will be coordinated by the SRRB. Aquatic health will be determined at 12 to 20 sites in representative streams through areas impacted by development as well as in unimpacted areas. Data will be collected using Environment Canada’s CABIN (Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network) protocol – an aquatic biological monitoring program that utilizes benthic macroinvertebrates to assess the health of freshwater systems. Water and stream sediment samples will be collected and analyzed for standard major ions and metals, and field physical conditions will be described for each of these sites. PMDs (passive monitoring devices) and DGTs (diffusive gradient in thin-films) will also be deployed to test for the presence of hydrocarbons and metals in the water. These samplers will be deployed in some of the lower reaches of streams where they enter the Mackenzie River. The water will be tested for nutrients, physical parameters, major ions, metals and organic parameters to get a complete picture of baseline conditions in the area. In year 2-3 the research team will examine the possibility of working with project partners to collect sediment cores to evaluate temporal trends in selected lake ecosystems. Objective 4: Contribute to capacity building and decision making in the region. The project team will work with the SRRB, Sahtu Secretariat Inc. and local regulators to determine the most appropriate methods of engaging the communities and regulators with this project. Options include utilizing and supporting existing knowledge sharing venues, and providing project resources to appropriate Sahtu organizations to support capacity that will assist in implementation of this project. The project will also endeavour to regularly engage regulators in the design of the monitoring and research. The team will also attempt to support regulatory decision making through the provision of research and monitoring results and expert opinion on regulatory issues. Objective 5: a) develop a geospatial framework to determine watershed characteristics, distribution of thermal and non-thermal groundwater springs and usage by communities; b) determine water quality of surface and ground waters as well as groundwater recharge conditions and residence time; c) assess the health of groundwater fed stream ecosystems (nutrients, benthic invertebrate and algal biomass); and d) Provide collaborative, multi-disciplinary field and laboratory training of Canadian graduate students in scientific approaches and techniques in the field of permafrost hydrology and aquatic ecology. To achieve Objective 5b, the research team will install in early June water level and water quality data loggers (YSI OMS600) that record turbidity, pH, temperature, depth and conductivity in 3-5 groundwater fed streams in the Mackenzie Mountains. Surface waters and groundwaters at the point of discharge (2-4L) will be collected in early June as well as in mid August during the retrieval of the YSI loggers. Piezometers will also be installed to collect groundwater samples. The water samples will be analyzed for geochemical composition (major ions and trace metals), stable and radioactive water isotopes (18O, D and tritium), concentration and isotopes of dissolved carbon (DIC, DOC, 13CDIC, 13CDOC, 14CDOC). Geochemical techniques are well suited to study groundwater conditions in remote settings. Stable water isotopes provide information regarding the timing of recharge, while tritium provides details into short residence time of groundwater; the concentration and isotopes of dissolved carbon provide information on the recharge conditions (open vs closed system), the source of CO2 and residence time of the groundwater. Objective 6: Track sources of hydrocarbons from hydraulic fracking and other oil and gas extraction methods to aquatic systems. Objective 7: Determine historical hydrocarbon concentrations in the area of development using lake sediments. Finally, the aquatic health of streams will be determined at 12 to 20 sites in representative streams through areas impacted by development (in the lowlands) as well as in unimpacted areas (in the highlands). This project aims to develop a cumulative impact monitoring program for aquatic effects of oil and gas exploration in the Sahtu region, in particular, for watersheds draining the eastern foothills of the Mackenzie Mountains. In year 1 of the project, the research team propose to engage community organizations in the Sahtu (Tulita, Norman Wells, Fort Good Hope) to understand their concerns and perspectives on monitoring and changes to the landscape and evaluating impacts to water resources. The research team will also work closely with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada inspectors in Norman Wells and the Sahtu Land and Water Board to ensure that research and monitoring questions and study design address key regulatory issues. Through partnership with the SRRB the team will ensure appropriate and coordinated engagement of the Renewable Resource Councils (RRC) by using and supporting existing knowledge sharing venues. Capacity building and RRC engagement in this work will also be coordinated through the SRRB. The project team will work closely with SRRB to determine the appropriate venues for discussing the project with communities. There are two tentative opportunities including an on the land knowledge sharing workshop that this project would support and participate in. The SRRB would take a lead role in establishing appropriate venues for communicating with the communities. Project team members will take time in communities to meet with key people, including project participants and regulators. The project team recognizes that effective communication requires developing relationships with communities and decision makers. The mapping products will be made publically available and accessible via the NWT Discovery Portal and GeoViewer. Research team members will report their results at a relevant northern conference. Results of this project will also be uploaded to the NWT Discovery Portal. A summary of project program activities will be published as an open file report through the NWT Geoscience Office. The report and data will be publicly accessible. Public lectures, participation in the Experiential Science Learning program at the local high schools in Norman Wells and Tulita. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from March 9, 2017 to April 1, 2017.