Cumulative Effects Monitoring i th Sl in the Slave River and Delta - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Cumulative Effects Monitoring i th Sl Ri d D lt in the Slave River and Delta

Joint Research and Monitoring Results Meeting

Yellowknife, January 23, 2013

Ph di T D

Photo credit: T. Dwyer

Photo credit: T Dwyer

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)

• Community concerns about the health of fish were brought forward to ENR
• Community concerns about the health of fish were brought forward to ENR

during Fall 2010

Sl Ri d D lt P t hi (SRDP) Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)

Step 1: Conference calls with communities Aboriginal governments and Step 1: Conference calls with communities, Aboriginal governments and

• rganizations, territorial and federal governments, and researchers to answer

the following questions (Oct‐Nov 2010):

Wh h b d b f ?

• What has been done before?
• What is being done now?
• Who is doing what?

h d i i d i h f ?

• What do communities want to do in the future?
• How can we work together?

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)

Step 2: Aquatic ecosystem health indicators workshop (Fort Smith, March 2011)

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)

Participants identified concerns about potential effects of upstream development

• Can we drink the water?
• Can we eat the fish?
• Is the ecosystem healthy?

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)

Step 3: Slave River and Delta Partnership

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)

p p CIMP Project

• State of the Knowledge Report on the Slave
• State of the Knowledge Report on the Slave

River and Slave River Delta

• What we know
• Vulnerability Assessment and Prioritization
• Vulnerability Assessment and Prioritization

Workshop (participation from both local and Traditional Knowledge holders and researchers) researchers)

• What we don’t know
• What we want to know
• What we want to work on first

What we want to work on first

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)

Step 4: Monitoring and Research

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)

• Sediment Core Sampling in Slave River

Delta to study contaminant concentrations over time (Wilfrid Laurier University) University)

• Fish health study and community fishing

days (Fort Smith and Fort Resolution)

• DFO Fish Health Study
• DFO Fish Health Study
• CIMP funded for furbearer (muskrat, mink

and beaver) population and contaminants project (1st priority)

• Data are currently being analyzed and

released to the communities

Wh ’ i l d i h SRDP? Who’s involved in the SRDP?

Members of: Deninu K’ue First Nation Fort Resolution & Fort Resolution & Fort Smith Métis Councils Town of Fort Smith Hamlet of Fort Resolution

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP) and the C di W t N t k Canadian Water Network

• Canadian Water Network

CWN and GNWT Workshop (June 2012) monitoring experts and local and Aboriginal

• 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 Monitoring

• SRDP and science experts have reviewed EoQ’s, and two teams were invited to submit

full proposals (December 2012 Workshop)

Expectations for A Community‐Based Cumulative Expectations for A Community Based Cumulative Effects Monitoring Program

• A program that focuses on community

concerns, answers community questions and addresses cumulative impacts

• Research and monitoring that can be used

for decision‐making at multiple levels

• Collaborative, inclusive and participatory ‐

meaningful community involvement at all t i th j t stages in the project

• A program that is cost‐effective and

d i d f l t it designed for long‐term community monitoring

NWT Wide Community‐based NWT Wide Community based Cumulative Effects Monitoring

• A framework that can be adapted and

implemented NWT wide if communities are interested

• Robust and integrative framework that

includes multiple aspects of aquatic ecosystem health, based on traditional and local knowledge and western science

• Will link with the existing water monitoring

programs and complement other research programs and complement other research and monitoring activities

• Will contribute to capacity building through

Will contribute to capacity building through collaborative research design, opportunities for training and community‐led sampling

Jennifer Fresque‐Baxter q

Advisor, Watershed Management Jennifer fresque‐baxter@gov.nt.ca Jennifer_fresque baxter@gov.nt.ca

Land & Water Division 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!