NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Tags: physical sciences, environmental assessment, water quality, infrastructure, stream health

Objective(s): To determine the impacts of the Inuvik – Tuktoyaktuk Highway roads on stream health and to assess the impacts of the Highway on stream function and changes in aquatic health parameters.

Project Description: The main goal of this project are to establish a stream biomonitoring program along the Dempster–Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk-Corridor (DITC) to understand the current environmental conditions associated with past and newly developed road infrastructure. Specific objectives are: 1) to establish a stream biomonitoring program for the Inuvik – Tuktoyaktuk Highway (ITH); 2) to directly involve local stakeholders in the program and to provide the training required for communities to undertake the stream-monitoring program in the future; 3) to determine the impacts (if any) of the ITH roads on stream health; 4) to provide information on the importance of stream invertebrates to fish; and, 5) to assess the impacts of the ITH on stream function and changes in aquatic health parameters (e.g., water chemistry changes) compared to reference condition and legacy effects of past road development along the Dempster corridor. A total of 20 candidate streams (15 “impacted” sites along ITH, 5 “legacy impact” sites along the Dempster highway, reference conditions will be considered upstream reaches at all “impacted” and “legacy impact” sites) will represent the core group of sites sampled in this study. Study sites will be selected based upon information from decision-makers with the Gwich’in Renewable Resource Councils (RRCs) and Inuvialuit Hunter and Trapper Committees (HTCs) prior to sampling and will include streams such as the Diamond Point Creek along the ITH, which connects the Husky Lakes, which are important to angling and have high fish diversity. The research team propose to study streams due to their importance as spawning habitat and critical refuge for juvenile fish. The combination of these 3 site types will allow the team to assess the severity of stream impacts associated with newly developed and existing roads in the Arctic. CABIN (Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network ) monitoring techniques (e.g., using macroinvertebrates as bioindicators of environmental condition) will be used to investigate ecosystem responses to disturbance in streams. This method uses a Kick-net placed downstream of the collector, against stream substrate. The collector disturbs the substrate for a total of 3 minutes. 3-5 replicate Kick-nets will be collected at each stream. Samples are removed from the net and preserved in 95% ethanol for transport. In the laboratory, macroinvertebrate samples were sorted and identified to lowest practical taxonomic level (typically genus) by a Society for Freshwater Science certified taxonomists. To complement this approach and better understand gaps in current knowledge in Arctic stream ecology as well as threats to the provision of ecosystem services, this study will investigate changes in water quality, habitat characteristics, and ecosystem function (i.e., organic matter processing rates in streams). Water chemistry analyses will be conducted at the Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) facility in Saskatoon. Stream function will be measured using decomposition bioassays made of 100% unbleached cotton measuring 5 by 10 cm at all sample sites. Decomposition bioassays will be repeated in 2020 and 2021 between July and August (~ 5 weeks). Decomposition rates will be calculated as the difference between initial and final weights and will be standardized by stream temperature. Training opportunities will be provided to allow community members to complete the nationally standardized CABIN training certification. This will allow ongoing aquatic biomonitoring to occur at the community level. The research team will reach out to HTCs to inquire about interested individuals who would like to be part of the CABIN training as this program is developed. Water quality data will be uploaded to the Mackenzie Data stream and macroinvertebrate community data will be uploaded to the CABIN database, and any suggested database or community members that are interested in the data. Results will be annually communicated at the NWT Environmental Research and Monitoring Workshop and all HTCs will be continually updated on the project progress and results. Lastly, researchers associated with this project will provide workshops on stream biomonitoring and CABIN procedures to local school students in the Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk regions with consultation from Aurora Research Institute. The students will contribute to the overall project through data collection and be included as part of the Northern Research Leadership Camp network. The results of the student run component and the overall results of the project will be incorporated into the Trail Valley Creek On-the-Land Camp in 2020, which will service both Gwich'in Settlement Area and Inuvialuit Settlement Region youth. Water quality data will be submitted to the Mackenzie Datastream annually. The results of this project will be presented at the NWT Environmental Research and Monitoring Workshop. Annual meetings will be held to communicate results with Inuvialuit Hunters and Trappers Committees and the Gwich'in Renewable Resource Councils. Aquatic insect, habitat, and water chemistry data will be submitted to the Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network. All publications developed from this research will be made available to community organizations. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from July 14, 2019 to August 24, 2019.