NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

Tags: physical sciences, water quality, permafrost, native plants, revegetation, hydrology, remote sensing, thaw slump

Objective(s): The purpose of this study is to develop a method of characterizing the sensitivity and response of streams and rivers to regional variability in permafrost thaw in the Beaufort Delta Region, Western Canadian Arctic.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.4934. The purpose of this study is to develop a method of characterizing the sensitivity and response of streams and rivers to regional variability in permafrost thaw in the Beaufort Delta Region, Western Canadian Arctic. All of the field team members are from within the NWT. This field program will follow the attached Exposure Control Plan and Risk Assessment. Both documents have been submitted to the Department of Public Health for approval. Water quality and stream flow data will be collected from a selection of streams that represent the wide range of permafrost conditions along the Dempster and Inuvik-to-Tuktoyaktuk Highway corridor. In particular, the research team will examine how physical disturbance (e.g., retrogressive thaw slumping and ice wedge degradation) affects the water quality of streams and rivers in the region. In recent years, a number of streams and rivers in the Beaufort Delta region have started flowing during the winter months. This suggests that there is an increase in sub-permafrost groundwater flow (or water flowing from beneath the permafrost). This is significant because the team does not know how sub-permafrost groundwater flow influences the water quality of streams and rivers in the region. This project will also examine how increases in groundwater flow affects the water quality of streams and rivers in the region. Water quality and streamflow data will be collected every two weeks (year round). Each stream catchment will be characterized by climatic (e.g., latitude) and landscape characteristics (e.g., ice content, relief, vegetation, surficial geology). This will be accomplished using terrain information obtained from detailed satellite imagery. Seasonal, climatic, and landscape characteristics will be used to examine trends in the water quality data. The Project Investigator (PI) plans to reach out to the community organizations listed on the application individually. Each group will have the opportunity to meet with the PI to address questions and concerns in Winter/Spring 2021. The PI plans to reach out to the Aurora Research Institute to schedule a presentation at some point in Spring and Summer 2021. Project updates and preliminary results will be made available via the project web page. The research team are currently planning to make the data available through an online information management system. This is currently in development at the Aurora Research Institute. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from March 16, 2021 to December 31, 2021.