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State of the Knowledge of the Slave River and Slave River Delta

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State of the Knowledge of the Slave River and Slave River Delta State of the Knowledge of the Slave River and Slave River Delta A Component of the Vulnerability Assessment of the Slave River and Delta Final Report: April 2016 Prepared for the Slave River and Delta Partnership Jennifer Dagg The Pembina Institute With input and updates by: Executive summary The Slave River and Slave River Delta are unique ecosystems and important to the livelihood and culture of the Aboriginal people in the area. This report consolidates a large number of reports and articles referring to the Slave River and Delta to assess the state of the knowledge and identify areas for future research. This report is intended to be a living document, and periodically updated as more research and monitoring, from multiple knowledge perspectives, takes place1. Overall, we found a large volume of information on hydrology and sediment load, water quality, metals and contaminants in water, sediments and fish, and muskrats, though some of this information is dated. There was a moderate volume of information about fish community, moose, beaver and vegetation, though some of this information is dated and there are some knowledge gaps. There is little information available on benthic invertebrates and insects, mink, otter and aquatic birds, and air quality, and there are a number of knowledge gaps in understanding of function and dynamics of these ecosystem components. Acknowledgements The author would like to thank the many members of the Slave River and Delta Partnership and their partners (past and present) for their time and effort reviewing and editing this report. Also, special thanks to the many involved in the development of this report: Allicia Kelly, Andrea Czarnecki, Brent Wolfe, Bruce Maclean, Cec Heron, Claire Marchildon, Deanna Leonard, Erin Kelly, Jack Bird, Jane Hobart, Jean Soucy, Jeff Dixon, Jeff Shatford, Jennifer Skelton, John Carter, Jonathon Delorme, Juanetta Sanderson, Katarina Carthew, Katherine Trembath, Kerry Pippy, Kevin Smith, Marlene Evans, Mary Tapsell, Mike English, Olivia Lee, Patrick Simon, Paul Jones, Rhona Kindopp, Roland Hall, Sarah Rosolen, Stefan Goodman, Steve Kokelj, Stuart Macmillan, Tausia Kaitu'u-Lal, Teresa Joudrie, Tim Heron and Troy Ellsworth. 1 Pembina Institute is the main author of this report and compiled the majority of the content. The report was provided to the SRDP in March of 2012. The SRDP highlighted the need for additional information sources related to local and traditional knowledge to be included before the report was finalized. ENR-GNWT included additional information sources and content, including on local and traditional knowledge, post-devolution updates to relevant legislation and regulatory bodies, as well as some updated water quality, sediment, air and climate and fish health information after March 2012. ii Slave River and Slave River Delta State of the Knowledge Report State of the Knowledge Report of the Slave River and Slave River Delta Final Report Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background .................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Ecosystem Approach ................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Traditional Knowledge .................................................................................................. 3 1.4 Report organization ...................................................................................................... 4 2. Way of life and geography in the Slave River and Delta .............................................. 6 2.1 Way of life .................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Geography of the Slave River and Delta ...................................................................... 8 3. Research and monitoring in the Slave River and Slave River Delta...........................11 3.1 Research and monitoring programs ............................................................................11 4. Hydrology and sediment load .......................................................................................16 4.1 Water flow ...................................................................................................................16 4.2 Ice ...............................................................................................................................18 4.3 Spring Flood Events ....................................................................................................19 4.4 Sediment and travel accessibility ................................................................................20 4.5 Groundwater and permafrost.......................................................................................21 4.6 State of the knowledge and potential future research ..................................................21 5. Water quality ..................................................................................................................24 5.1 Water quality ...............................................................................................................24 5.2 Algae ...........................................................................................................................27 5.3 State of the knowledge and potential future research ..................................................28 6. Metals and contaminants ..............................................................................................30 iii Slave River and Slave River Delta State of the Knowledge Report 6.1 State of the knowledge and potential future research ..................................................37 7. Fish and insect/benthic communities ..........................................................................40 7.1 Fish population ............................................................................................................40 7.2 Fish health ..................................................................................................................41 7.3 Insects and benthic invertebrate communities .............................................................42 7.4 State of the knowledge and potential future research ..................................................43 8. Wildlife .............................................................................................................................45 8.1 Aquatic birds ...............................................................................................................45 8.2 Amphibians .................................................................................................................46 8.3 Moose .........................................................................................................................46 8.4 Aquatic furbearers .......................................................................................................47 8.5 State of the knowledge and potential future research ..................................................50 9. Vegetation ......................................................................................................................52 9.1 Vegetation shift ...........................................................................................................52 9.2 Berries ........................................................................................................................53 9.3 Forest infestation .........................................................................................................53 9.4 Rare and invasive plant species ..................................................................................53 9.5 State of the knowledge and potential future research ..................................................54 10. Air and climate ...............................................................................................................55 10.1 Temperature ..............................................................................................................55 10.2 Moisture in the air ......................................................................................................55 10.3 Rain, storms and wind ...............................................................................................55 10.4 Snow .........................................................................................................................55 10.5 Air quality ...................................................................................................................56 10.6 State of the knowledge and potential future research ................................................57 11. Summary of state of the knowledge .............................................................................58 12. References .....................................................................................................................60 Appendix A: Detailed summaries of findings .......................................................................76 Appendix B: Water Governance and Regulatory Bodies ...................................................110 Relevant legislation ............................................................................................................110 Relevant policy ...................................................................................................................111
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