KIA Lands Department Program Design Summary March 18 2019 Presentation to Senate of Canada Special Committee – Arctic Consider the significant and rapid changes to the Arctic and the impacts on original inhabitants Project: Inuu’tuti, the Baker Lake Aquatic Cumulative Effects Monitoring Program which has the documented support of the community of Baker Lake. The Kivalliq Inuit Association has partnered with Crown-Indigenous Relations Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC), the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan (NGMP) and the Nunavut Water Board (NWB) in a Steering Committee to develop Inuu’tuti, an aquatic Cumulative Effects Monitoring Program (CEMP) for the Baker Lake Region. KIA is involved in implementing activities in the field and is an active member of the Steering Committee that guides the overall program. This document describes the program details. KIA Lands Department Program Design Summary OBJECTIVES The Inuu’tuti program focuses on Baker Lake and its Drainage Basin. Baker Lake is a large lake with a surface area of 1,877 km2 receiving drainage from the eastern and central Canadian Arctic. It is of cultural significance to the Hamlet of Baker Lake, supports many traditional land uses including hunting and fishing and is the community’s source of drinking water. The basin itself includes two Canadian Heritage Rivers (The Thelon and Kazan Rivers), two operating gold mines (Meadowbank and Meliadine) and substantial mineral deposits. The ultimate goal of our project is to fully implement an aquatic cumulative effects monitoring program in the Baker Lake Drainage Basin and then to use this pilot project as a model to implement an aquatic Cumulative Effects Monitoring Program (CEMP) for all of Nunavut. We are specifically looking to monitor any cumulative effects of climate change, industry, isostatic rebound and population growth on the aquatic ecosystem. Our understanding of the aquatic environment in the Baker Lake Drainage Basin and the pressures from existing mining activities and documented warming will help prepare the community and decision makers to ensure that the ongoing development within the watershed continues to be sustainable, will provide benefits to Nunavummiut and will allow then to respond to the effects of climate change in their environment. This objective is driven by two overarching scientific questions and two overarching questions of interest to the community that have been reiterated in repeated community engagement meetings: Scientific Questions • Are current conditions in the Baker Lake Drainage Basin acceptable? o If not, what are the causes? • Is the Baker Lake watershed changing? o If so, what are the causes? Community Questions • Is the water safe to drink? • Are the fish good to eat? This overall project has been named the “Inuu’tuti” initiative, an Inuktitut term selected by the community in 2016 that translates to “life source”. The implementation of the CEMP, as designed by the Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA) and their consultants (HESL) in 2017 and 20181, will help train the next 1 HESL. 2018. Inuu’tuti Cumulative Effects Monitoring Program Scientific Program Design. Prepared for the Kivalliq Inuit Association KIA Lands Department Program Design Summary generation of field staff and community monitors from the community of Baker Lake. This will build internal capacity and reduce program reliance on long-term Consultant support. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Kivalliq Inuit Association has partnered with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC), the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan (NGMP) and the Nunavut Water Board (NWB) to develop an aquatic Cumulative Effects Monitoring Program (CEMP) for the Baker Lake Drainage Basin. The CEMP is the key component of the Inuu’tuti Initiative, a new project for the North that is intended to grow over time as partnerships are developed and more data are generated. The Inuu’tuti Initiative is being led by a secretariat of key players made up of the KivIA, NGMP, CIRNAC and the NWB and is being implemented through partnerships between the KivIA, federal (ECCC and CIRNAC) and territorial governments (Government of Nunavut), industry (Orano Canada and Agnico Eagle Mines), the Hamlet of Baker Lake and eventually, universities and academic institutions. The Inuu’tuti Initiative is unique in that it has included western science and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) from the early design stages, and facilitates a joint data gathering approach. Ultimately, there is an intent to expand the program across Nunavut. To date, the program has made considerable progress resulting in a developed scientific CEMP that is ready for implementation but which lacks supporting long term funding. This program has been built on: 1. A historical baseline study2 that aggregated all regional records for water quality, flow, ice cover and meteorological data in the Baker Lake Drainage Basin from ~1970-2013. The dataset represented the first fulsome baseline characterization of the drainage basin, and aggregated data from over ~52,000 records from the NWB, ECCC, the Water Survey of Canada, and the Canadian Ice Service. This data has been housed in a MS Access database for the KIA and used to determine where ongoing monitoring stations should be established, to identify and evaluate gaps in the baseline characterization and select methodologies for environmental monitoring that are comparable to historic methods and which best meet the needs of the Inuu’tuti initiative, the community, program partners and stakeholders. 2. Three years of targeted limnology studies in Baker Lake to characterize the receiver and community focus of the drainage basin and evaluate the extent and dynamics of saline intrusions reported by the community. The results were used to help respond to community concerns, select sample sites that reflect water quality throughout Baker Lake and to document a sound baseline for future comparisons.3,4 2 HESL. 2016. Baker Lake Basin Baseline Report. Baker Lake Basin Climate, Hydrometric and Water Quality Data: Compilation, Assessment of Adequacy and Data Gaps Relative to Cumulative Effects Monitoring Program Objectives, and Preliminary Screening of Potential Anthropogenic Contributors to Cumulative Effects. Prepared for the Kivalliq Inuit Association. 3HESL. 2018. Baker Lake Limnology Study. Prepared for the Kivalliq Inuit Association. This will be the third of three annual reports. 4 Hutchinson, N.J., Hadley, K.R., Nesbitt, R.A., and Manzo, L. 2018. Establishing baseline limnological conditions inBaker Lake, Nunavut. Polar Knowledge: Aqhaliat 2018, Polar Knowledge Canada, p. ##–##. KIA Lands Department Program Design Summary 3. Three years of sampling specific sites of community and scientific interest in the watershed of Baker Lake to document baseline conditions and inputs from the watershed to Baker Lake. Sampling occurs under an expansion of a Memorandum of Agreement between the KIA and CIRNAC. Results and interpretation are presented in annual reports. Monitoring stations have been selected throughout Baker Lake itself and within the three watersheds contributing to its inflow (Dubawnt, Kazan, and Thelon River watersheds). Sites have also been included in the Back and Quoich watersheds reflecting the land use patterns of Inuit and other Nunavummiut from the Hamlet of Baker Lake as identified through community consultations. 4. A three-year long IQ study called the “One Voice” project56. This program was comprised of three rounds of interviews with Elders, hunters and knowledge holders to characterize how the community evaluates their aquatic environment, establish a methodology for monitoring that environment using IQ in a semi-quantitative manner, determine common indicators between IQ and western science and locate sites of community concern. “The One Voice” method for monitoring the aquatic environment will serve as the basis for a forthcoming Inuu’tuti community-based monitoring program. Information provided from the community has thus far been used to help select valued ecosystem components (VECs) for the Inuu’tuti CEMP, water quality monitoring parameters, and sampling sites of importance to the community where monitoring will occur. 5. Extensive community consultation including an initial meeting and workshop held to establish community support in 2014 (at which point our included letter of community support was signed), and follow up meetings in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. All meetings were held in Baker Lake and were well attended by the community. 6. In the interests of further enhancing our monitoring capabilities, the KivA has more recently initiated a partnership with the University of Manitoba (UofM) to develop and include environmental DNA (eDNA) methodologies in the monitoring program. The purpose of this collaboration is to use knowledge gained using the One Voice project with the expertise of the scientists at the UofM to develop an eDNA sampling protocol with an ultimate goal of including eDNA metabarcoding as a part of routine monitoring. eDNA metabarcoding can be used to determine fish species assemblage through water samples, and will be used to efficiently and economically increase baseline data on biodiversity in the Baker Lake region, as well as indicate which areas would benefit from increased sampling by traditional means. SUPPORT To date, funding for the Inuu’tuti Initiative has come from competitive three-year grants (POLAR Knowledge Canada and the NGMP), direct support from the KIA and CIRNAC, and in-kind support from 5 HESL.