NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Tags: water quality, aquatic ecosystems, biology, fish habitat, vegetation, hydrology, fish

Objective(s): To describe the aquatic environment in the Yellowknife River between Bluefish Lake and Prosperous Lake.

Project Description: The objective is to describe the aquatic environment in the Yellowknife River between Bluefish Lake and Prosperous Lake as per the Fisheries Authorization and the Water Licence. This may include investigating aquatic vegetation, water quality and quantity, benthic invertebrates, fish and substrate. The results will be used to determine the most suitable means of fish habitat compensation or productivity offsetting. Surveys of the aquatic environment may be required to investigate fish habitat, population, migration and spawning, and water quality and quantity. To investigate fish in the affected area, bathymetry, gill netting, minnow trapping and snorkeling may be conducted. Some fish or fish egg collection may be required to determine species, age, health, metal levels and reproductive status of spawning or game fish, including lake trout, northern pike and slimy sculpin. Surveys of suckers, grayling, lake trout, whitefish, ciscoes, and pike may be required on existing or artificial shoals or during seasonal migratory movements. Measurements of water quality and quantity will be collected in the Yellowknife River between Prosperous Lake and Bluefish Lake, throughout the year. Water quality will be measured through field measurements and sample collection. Water quantity will be measured through monthly flow measurements and deployment of transducers for continual data collection. Results from the monitoring program will be submitted to the government regulatory agencies and communities through land use permit and water license application process. In addition, Northwest Territories Power Corporation has occasional meetings with the Yellowknife Dene First Nation. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from April 27, 2017 to December 31, 2017.