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Development and Implementation ofNorthern Voices, Northern Waters:NWT Water Stewardship Strategy

Slave River and Delta Partnership, CWN Workshop, December 2012Photo credit: T. Dwyer

Photo credit: T DwyerNorthern Voices, Northern WatersNortherners expressed concerns about their water, which they use for transportation, subsistence, spiritual, cultural and economic purposes, etc.

Collaborative efforts of Aboriginal leadership, communities, governments, regulatory boards, environmental non-government organizations and industry, resulted in a draft Strategy (2009)

Public feedback on the document was sought with the guidance of the Aboriginal Steering Committee (7 Aboriginal governments, AANDC and GNWT)

NWT Water Stewardship Strategy

Vision:The waters of the Northwest Territories will remain clean, abundant, and productive for all time.Working together:This strategy stresses the need for water partners to work together and share ideas and knowledge to make sound decisions about responsible water use.Released in May 2010The Action Plan

Keys to Success outlined in the Strategy are broken down into Action Items

Deliverable dates and lead agencies for each Action Item are identifiedReleased in May 2011Keys to Success (High Level Objectives)Community-Based MonitoringDevelop community capacity to strengthen community involvement in water stewardship activities, including education, training, and research and monitoring programs.Develop and implement collaborative ecosystem-based research and monitoring programs.

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)

Community concerns about the health of fish were brought forward to ENR during Fall 2010

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)

Conference calls with communities, Aboriginal governments and organizations, territorial and federal governments, and researchers to answer the following questions (Oct-Nov 2010):What has been done before?What is being done now?Who is doing what?What do communities want to do in the future?How can we work together?

Whos involved in the SRDP?

Deninu KueFirst NationFort Resolution & Fort Smith Mtis CouncilsMembers of:Town of Fort SmithHamlet of Fort Resolution

Quickly after the workshop the partnership became official, and a proposal to CIMP was submitted by the group to start developing the base for monitoring and research plan for the area. Following members of these organizations are part of the partnership.

8Aquatic ecosystem health indicators workshop (Fort Smith, January 2011)

Participants identified concerns about potential effects of upstream development (oil sands development, hydro, forestry/pulp and paper, conventional oil and gas, municipal, climate change, agriculture, historic development (old military sites, uranium mining, transportation of uranium ore) and cumulative effects)Can we drink the water?Can we eat the fish?Is the ecosystem healthy?

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP) Objectives

Slave River and Delta Partnership CIMP Project

State of the Knowledge Report completedWhat we knowVulnerability Assessment and Prioritization Workshop completedWhat we dont knowWhat we want to knowWhat we want to work on first

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP) Objectives

Cost effective, community-based cumulative effects monitoring program that addresses community concerns which other northern communities could choose to implement in the future.

Canadian Water NetworkCWN 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 MonitoringSRDP and science experts have reviewed EoQs Full proposals to be developed after December Workshop in Yellowknife

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)

Community Expectations for A Community-Based Cumulative Effects Monitoring Program A program that focuses on community concerns, answers community questions and meets community needs

Collaborative, inclusive and participatory - meaningful community involvement at all stages in the project

Researchers will work with the SRDP to design the monitoring program

A program that is cost-effective and designed for long-term community monitoring

Clear linkages between the four theme areas

no more science for the sake of science

Meaningful Involvement Clear indication of the role that the SRDP and communities and Aboriginal organizations will play in all parts of the research How involved at all stagesHow researchers will work with the SRDP to design the program and individual segments within it

Must include all community groups not just one segment of the community

Participation must be full and inclusive

It was felt with the proposals that many did not adequately address the role of the SRDP (recognizing of course that SRDP is full partner in all proposals, though many did not feel that really came out well)

Also want clear indication of how the researchers themselves will work together how 13Clear strategy for communicating and reporting results Problems in the past with communities getting information and results SRDP and communities need to be informed throughoutSRDP operating practice: Communities get results first Multiple forms of communication

There need to be mechanisms in place to ensure that researchers are properly communicating and reporting with communities at all stages of this research, including findings. Some of the researchers listed on the EoQs have had problems in the past with sharing results with other scientists before sharing them with communities (i.e. through research posters at conference, talks, publications etc.). This will not be considered acceptable for the successful team.

The way the partnership works is communities get the results FIRST

Recommended that groups have a communication plan, and that there is a clear strategy for communication 14Training and capacity-buildingMeaningful strategy for training opportunities and capacity-buildingnot just hiring someone to drive a boat Working with local community members during project design, field work, and at other stagesMust include opportunities for all groups not just one segment Description/plan for outreach activities

Training people to be part of the monitoring and do it when scientists are not there and to be able to do it after the CWN is done links to the purpose of the call One suggestion was to conduct a gap analysis of where capacity exists in the community and where it could be improved and how this could be done.It was also suggested that opportunities that brought together youth and Elders would be important. Training opportunities that permit community members to conduct sampling etc., when researchers are not present, and into the long term should be included.

15Inclusion of Traditional and Local Knowledge Improvement on the inclusion of Traditional Knowledge in a meaningful way and clear understanding to how this will be accomplishedCommunities are the TK holders and scientists should work with community partners to determine how to involve TK TK protocols Community protocolsGNWTs TK Policy

Best Practices for Incorporating TK GNWT TK Best Practices Summary outlines 11 Key Elements of Best Practice for gathering and applying TK in the north.

Understand and Acknowledge the Value of TKEstablish and Apply Appropriate Definitions of TKEnsure the Protection of Sensitive InformationAdhere to Community-Based ProtocolsEnsure Community Engagement

Best Practices cont Ensure Informed ConsentEnsure Local Ownership and Control of InformationInterpret and Present TK in the Appropriate Cultural ContextProvide Benefits for the Use of TKFollow Formal Research Licensing GuidelinesEstablish Clear Communication and Reporting Links

Leveraging funding and resources Identified opportunities for additional leveraged funds and in-kind support Equipment for community use Value-added components

Overview of Past Research Concerns

Did not answer questions from the communityLimited if any community involvement in development or implementation of researchCommunity does not want to just be the boat driverCan provide valuable information on how and where to sampleResults not communicated to communityIf they were communicated, it was not done in an accessible wayLimited if any opportunities for training, capacity building and educationImproper inclusion of Local and Traditional Knowledge

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)

Opportunities for support from GNWT and SRDP member organizations

CoordinationCommunity RelationsCommunications and plain languageInclusion of Local and Traditional KnowledgeAdvice/comments on future funding proposalsSupport for CWN/SRDP workLogistical support/adviceSupport for permits and understanding northern research requirementsEtc.

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)

Other Community-Based Monitoring InitiativesMonitoring EquipmentYSI sondes, YSI hand-held meters, GPS units, waterproof digital cameras, passive samplers (DGTs and PMDS)

Training/Capacity BuildingYSI training (courses, videos, plain language instructions)Fish sampling techniques

Identifying Possible Funding SourcesCalendar released in January 2012

Slave River and Delta Partnership StudiesFish Health Study (University of Saskatchewan and DFO)Slave River Delta Lake Sediment Core Study (WLU/Waterloo)Beaver, muskrat, mink study (CIMP)* findings released to the community first

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)Funded for furbearer (muskrat, mink and beaver) population and contaminants project in 2012 (1st priority from Vulnerability Assessment)Harvest data over time for southern NWT communities is being gathered from GNWT databases and Hudson Bay records, etc.Plans are in place for a community-based survey program when ice is safe for travel and again in the spring contaminant samples, population and mortality information

Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)

AANDC Slave River Water Quality and Quantity Report

AANDC recently released a report on 35 years of Slave River water quality and quantity informationResults on seasonal assessment of water quality and quantity trendsEnvironment Canada released a report (Glozier) on water quality on the Slave, Athabasca and Peace RiversConducting additional monitoring under the joint Canada-Alberta Oil Sands Monitoring Program

Monitoring equipment thatmeasures what is happening at the time of sampling

YSI Sonde 6600 every 2- 4 hoursMeasures: Temperature, Conductivity, pH, Oxidation/Reduction Potential (ORP), Dissolved Oxygen, Turbidity, Chlorophyll

Grab Water Samples 3 to 5 timesMeasures: Many water parametersTaiga Laboratory, Yellowknife

Pisces @ Slave River/Delta near Fort Resolution

Weather Station measures wind direction, wind speed, air temperature and barometric pressure

Equipped with a sonde

Pisces takes samples at two different depths every two hours that are then sampled by the sonde

Grab Water Sample Data

Basic ParametersTurbidityTotal Dissolved SolidsTotal Suspended SolidsSpecific ConductivitypHAlkalinityDissolved Organic CarbonTotal Organic CarbonNitrate

IonsCalciumChlorideFluorideMagnesium

NutrientsDissolved PhosphorusTotal PhosphorusDissolved NitrogenTotal NitrogenAmmoniaNitriteChlorophyll a

PotassiumSodiumSulphate Dissolved and Particulate Elements/MetalsAluminumAntimonyArsenicBariumBerylliumCadmiumCesiumChromiumCobaltCopperIronLeadLithium

Oil and Gas relatedchemicalsManganeseMercuryMolybdenumNickelRubidiumSeleniumSilverStrontiumThalliumTitaniumUraniumVanadiumZinc

Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (Hydrocarbons)

Monitoring equipment that measures what is happening over a longer time periodPassive SamplersDiffusion Gradient in Thin Films (DGTs) 3 daysMeasures: Dissolved MetalsTrent University, PeterboroughPolyethylene Membrane Device (PMDs) 1 monthMeasures: Dissolved Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PACs)University Alberta, Edmonton

Summer Deployment PlanWorking collaboratively with AANDC (Andrea Czarnecki & Juanetta Sanderson) and Dehcho AAROM (George Low).

13 sondes in the water this summer during the ice free season:2 on the Slave1 each on the Hay, and Peel Rivers 7 on the Mackenzie from Providence to Inuvik.2 in Trout Lake

PMD and DGT samplers will also be deployed at each YSI Sonde location.

Deployment LocationsErin KellyManager, Watershed Programs & Partnerships

Jennifer Fresque-BaxterWatershed Management Advisor

Land & Water DivisionEnvironment & Natural ResourcesGovernment 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!