May 21, 2015 Central Mackenzie Surface Water and Groundwater Baseline Assessment REPORT 2: PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY Submitted to: Bruce Hanna Regional Science Coordinator Government of the Northwest Territories 867-920-6520 [email protected] Report Number: 1401835 Final Report 2 Distribution: REPORT GNWT - 5 copies Golder - 1 copy CENTRAL MACKENZIE SURFACE WATER AND GROUNDWATER BASELINE ASSESSMENT - PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Purpose of Report ................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Study Area ........................................................................................................................................................... 1 2.0 TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE ......................................................................................................................................... 4 3.0 SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE ............................................................................................................................................ 19 3.1 Surface Water Quantity (Hydrology) .................................................................................................................. 19 3.1.1 Climate ......................................................................................................................................................... 19 3.1.2 Runoff .......................................................................................................................................................... 20 3.1.3 Surface Water Zones ................................................................................................................................... 21 3.2 Surface Water Quality ........................................................................................................................................ 22 3.3 Permafrost ......................................................................................................................................................... 23 3.3.1 Where is Permafrost Found? ....................................................................................................................... 23 3.3.2 What Do We Know About Permafrost in the Study Area? ............................................................................ 24 3.4 Geology ............................................................................................................................................................. 24 3.4.1 Geology Near the Earth’s Surface (Surface Geology).................................................................................. 24 3.4.2 Geology Below the Earth’s Surface (Bedrock Geology) ............................................................................... 25 3.5 Aquifers ............................................................................................................................................................. 25 3.5.1 What Do We Know About Aquifers in the Study Area? ................................................................................ 26 3.5.2 Groundwater Quality .................................................................................................................................... 27 3.5.3 How Do Surface Water and Groundwater Interact? ..................................................................................... 27 3.6 Summary ........................................................................................................................................................... 28 4.0 WATER USE ................................................................................................................................................................... 28 4.1 How Were Water Use Estimates and Predictions Made? .................................................................................. 28 4.1.1 Current Water Use ....................................................................................................................................... 28 4.1.2 Expected Future Water Use ......................................................................................................................... 29 4.2 Results ............................................................................................................................................................... 30 4.2.1 Municipal Sector........................................................................................................................................... 32 4.2.2 Public Sector ................................................................................................................................................ 34 May 21, 2015 Report No. 1401835 Final Report 2 i CENTRAL MACKENZIE SURFACE WATER AND GROUNDWATER BASELINE ASSESSMENT - PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY 4.2.3 Oil and Gas Activities ................................................................................................................................... 35 4.2.4 Other Developments .................................................................................................................................... 36 4.2.5 Overall Water Use ........................................................................................................................................ 37 4.2.6 Traditional Use ............................................................................................................................................. 38 4.3 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................................... 38 5.0 INSTREAM FLOW NEEDS ............................................................................................................................................. 38 5.1 What is Environmental Flow? ............................................................................................................................ 38 5.2 What are the water management goals? ........................................................................................................... 38 5.3 How Was Water Supply Determined? ............................................................................................................... 39 5.4 What Methods Were Evaluated to Determine Environmental Flows? ................................................................ 39 5.5 What Method is Recommended? ....................................................................................................................... 40 5.6 Summary ........................................................................................................................................................... 45 6.0 MISSING KNOWLEDGE ................................................................................................................................................ 45 6.1 Methodology ...................................................................................................................................................... 45 6.1.1 Traditional Knowledge .................................................................................................................................. 45 6.1.2 Scientific Knowledge .................................................................................................................................... 46 6.2 Results ............................................................................................................................................................... 46 6.2.1 Traditional Knowledge .................................................................................................................................. 47 6.2.2 Scientific Knowledge .................................................................................................................................... 49 6.3 Summary ........................................................................................................................................................... 51 7.0 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................................................ 51 8.0 CLOSURE ....................................................................................................................................................................... 53 9.0 GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................................................................... 54 10.0 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................................ 56 TABLES Table 2-1: Traditional Place Names Shown on Figure 2-3 ........................................................................................... 12 Table 4-1: Water Use Projections using High Population Growth Projections, 2014 to 2021 ....................................... 37 Table 4-2: Water Use Projections using Low Population Growth Projections, 2014 to 2021 ........................................ 37 Table 5-1: Withdrawal Limits for Gauged Basins .........................................................................................................