Projects Archive - Page 5 of 7

Trout Lake Water Quality Sampling 2015-2016

The 2015-2016 Trout Lake Water Quality Sampling Project emerged from the Source Water Protection Planning Project that Ecology North undertook in partnership with the Sambaa K’e Dene Band (SKDB) and Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) in 2014.

Following the completion of the plan in 2015, there were several calls for additional water quality sampling near abandoned well and waste sites in the watershed. As such, this project was developed as a first step towards implementing these calls for action. The purpose of the sampling project was to gain a better understanding of how abandoned well and waste sites may be impacting water quality in the Sambaa K’e watershed.

Sampling

The majority of sampling was done by SKDB members during the summer and fall of 2015. In total, nine samples were taken from five different sites identified as source water priorities by Sambaa K’e community members. Parameters test included pH, total BTEX (hydrocarbons), conductivity, major ions, total trade metals and total mercury. All of the results were compared to the Canadian Water Quality Guidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Life, which are developed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME).

Overall, the 2015 sampling results were positive. At all sites, arsenic, molybdenum, nickel, lead, selenium and zinc were below the CCME Guidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Life. No hydrocarbons (oil and gas chemicals) were detected at these sites. There were some exceedances in cadmium, copper, iron, total mercury and silver, these sites were flagged for continued monitoring through future work.

Results Meeting

In early January 2016 Ecology North hosted a results meeting and open house in Sambaa K’e, nearly one fifth of the community attended this meeting. These results were well received and fostered substantial interest among community members for additional training and continued water sampling in the community. The insights gathered from this meeting and the sampling results collected during the project are being used to inform the development of a more formal source water protection implementation plan for Sambaa K’e. The plan will provide a more detailed list of actions, timelines and targets for source water protection activities, including our Hazardous Waste Clean Up Project.

Click below to open the sampling result summary:

2015 Water Quality Sampling Result Summary

Carbon Pricing in the NWT

Ecology North developed this discussion paper on territorial carbon pricing in February 2016, prior to the implementation of the territorial Carbon Tax in 2019.

Th people and businesses in NWT.

Click below to read the report:

Carbon Pricing for the NWT

In July of 2017, the Government of the Northwest Territories released a carbon pricing discussion paper titled Implementing Pan-Canadian Carbon Pricing in the Northwest Territories. Ecology North provided comments on this discussion paper in September of 2017

Click below to read the comments:

On the implementation of a carbon tax in the Northwest Territories: recommendations

The Permafrost of Peel Plateau

The Peel River Plateau region of the NWT is experiencing some of the most dramatic climate change impacts in the world. Warming winter temperatures and increasing summer rainfall are causing large tracts of land to melt and slump, releasing massive quantities of sediment into rivers and lakes. Scientists working with the NWT’s Cumulative Impacts Monitoring Program are seeking to understand the extent of the changes and their implications for the region and its people.

Christine Wenman spent a week in Ft McPherson NWT filming these scientists at work. The short documentary that was produced features interviews with the scientists as well as local residents who contributed to the research. The film will be available online when it has completed a run of independent festivals. Watch this space.

NWT School Gardens: Garden Curriculum for Grade 3

Why Garden with Students?

A school garden is a powerful educational tool. A school garden may consist of a few herb pots in a window or larger plots outside. Regardless of size, the real life experiences these living laboratories offer provide stronger lessons than those found in textbooks.

Research shows that gardening in schools can improve students’ attitudes towards themselves, others, and school; enhance their relationships, promote environmental awareness, improve test scores and encourage them to make nutritional food choices.

Finally, growing gardens with students can teach the skills they will need to be able to grow their own food and contribute to a local food system. In Northern Canada, where food availability is based upon large transportation distance, this may be especially beneficial in enhancing food security.

Download the curriculum document by clicking here.

The NWT School Gardens: Garden Curriculum for Grade 3, is based upon a highly successful gardening program at Weledeh School in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

Check out this and other great educational gardening initiatives under Local Food Production by clicking here!

Get to Know Your Watershed! Teacher Resource Guide

This Teacher Resource Guide was developed for northern teachers and organizations to help teach and engage students in learning about watersheds. The guide was developed by Ecology North with financial support from Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories.

Watersheds are important features in our landscape that teach us about how water flows, how rivers are created and how land and water ways are connected. Other topics such as geology, weather, topography, land cover, land uses and water quality can also be incorporated when teaching students about watersheds.

The guide provides background information about watersheds and their features and functions, with an emphasis on watersheds in the Northwest Territories (NWT). The background material also includes a list of key watershed terms (bolded words), and additional books, video and website resources.
Three watershed-related lessons are laid out in this guide. Each lesson is designed to engage students in a hands-on and interactive watershed model building activity. Through the lessons students learn by doing, thinking, researching and experimenting. The three lessons range in grade level and duration, from a 60 minute upper elementary lesson, to a multi-session high school lesson. Several assessment and extension options are provided for each lesson.

Contact us for a free physical copy, or click below to download the guide:

Get to Know Your Watershed!
A Teacher Resource Guide for Northern Watershed Education

Schools for a Living Planet Teacher Resources

Ecology North developed a series of curriculum-linked lesson plans for teachers in the Northwest Territories as part of the WWF Schools for a Living Planet program. These lesson plans are accompanied by NWT official languages word glossaries. Many of the resources were also adapted for teachers in Nunavut, and are available in Inuktitut (ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ).

The resources are for students and teachers from Grades 3 to 8 and cover the following themes:

Grade 3 – Northern Soils and Plants
Grade 4 – Solar Energy and Extreme Weather
Grade 5 – Snow Mechanics and Human Interaction with Snow
Grade 6 – Energy and Alternatives
Grade 7 – Waste Reduction and Hazardous Waste
Grade 8 – Northern Waters

The resources were officially launched on the World Wildlife Fund website during the NWTTA Territorial Teacher’s conference, September 29 – October 1, 2014.

To view and download these resources, please visit our sister site, NWT Science Focus.

Sambaa K’e Source Water Protection Planning

During the year of 2014-2015 Ecology North had the opportunity to work with the Sambaa K’e Dene Band (SKDB) of Trout Lake to develop the first source water protection plan in the NWT.

In response to growing concerns about their drinking water (i.e., climate change impacts, industrial development, and historic waste sites), Sambaa K’e opted to complete a community source water protection plan. The plan was completed through a collaborative partnership approach with Ecology North, SKDB and the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENR), who provided both financial and technical support to help make the plan happen.

Source water refers to raw water from aquifers, streams or lakes that is used to supply drinking water systems. The purpose of source water protection planning is to prevent contaminants from entering a drinking water source prior to treatment, and thus it is often considered the first essential step to ensuring safe drinking water. The need for community source water protection planning is well recognized in the NWT Water Stewardship Strategy and Action Plan, and in 2012 GNWT ENR began taking the important initial steps towards addressing this need. The department hosted two community source water protection workshops to help introduce the concept of source water protection and build community capacity with respect to the development of community source water protection plans. The workshops also led to the development of a NWT Source Water Assessment and Protection Guidance Document, which is intended to help interested communities engage in source water protection planning.

The source water protection plan for Sambaa K’e is partly based on the NWT Source Water Assessment and Protection Guidance Document. The project brought Sambaa K’e community members and Elders together with watershed interest groups, government staff, and community staff to identify potential source water threats and to determine appropriate management actions to address those threats. In total, 21 potential contaminant sources were identified and mapped in the source water plan. A series of management actions, including hazardous waste remediation, were also prioritized and recorded in the plan. These management actions provide ongoing direction for future source water implementation initiatives in the community of Sambaa K’e

Click below to read the report:

Community of Sambaa K’e Source Water Protection Plan

Integrating Climate Change into Municipal Planning

Ecology North, the Pembina Institute, and the NWT Association of Communities have created and updated a Climate Change Guide for Community Decision Makers, which is now in it’s third edition. This guide was developed to help communities mainstream climate change into all their decision-making processes. With ten chapters on everything from adaptation planning, hazard mapping, asset management to source water protection there is plenty of useful NWT-specific information available.

If you are interested in how you can bring climate change into your community’s planning processes you can download the guide, below.

Click below to read the Guide for Northern Communities:

Integrating Climate Change Measures into Municipal Planning and Decision-Making

Pepper and the Mighty Mackenzie

As part of Canada Water Week in 2014, Ecology North developed an educational activity in support of the Northwest Territories Water Stewardship Strategy. The book is for children of all ages and follows Pepper the Sand Piper as she explores the mighty Mackenzie River.

Click below to download the activity book:

Pepper and the Mighty Mackenzie

Feasibility of Centralized Composting in Hay River

In March 2013, Environment Canada published a report, Technical Document on Municipal Solid Waste Organics Processing that had a target audience of medium to large Canadian municipalities. In the Canadian North, over half the population lives in small- to medium-sized communities outside of the capital cities. Recently, communities such as Hay River, Northwest Territories have expressed a desire to recycle like their southern counterparts and to compost organic residuals such as food and yard wastes. Composting organic materials using paper products as carbon sources presents an opportunity to locally convert more than 60% of the waste stream into a valuable soil amendment.

This Feasibility of Centralized Composting in Hay River report builds on this previous work by providing a case study for territorial, provincial and municipal governments, and other decision-makers to increase organics diversion in northern communities.

Click below to view the report:

Feasibility of Centralized Composting in Hay River, Northwest Territories, Canada

Appendices to the report can be found here:

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