The Governments of Northwest Territories and Canada have resumed long-term water quality monitoring at two key sites in northern Alberta and two sites in the Northwest Territories (NWT).
“As the ultimate downstream jurisdiction in the Mackenzie River Basin, the Northwest Territories relies on a network of long-term monitoring sites to detect changes in the water and potential impacts from activities upstream,” said Shane Thompson, minister of environment and natural resources.
Long-term monitoring provides a record of changes over time, and will help detect differences and trends in water quality flowing from Alberta into the NWT.
“Working with Environment and Climate Change Canada to resume monitoring at these four important sites will help us answer residents’ questions about the health of the water flowing across our border, and help ensure the waters of the Northwest Territories remain clean, abundant, and productive for all time,” said Minister Thompson.
The collaboration between governments will enable monitoring to resume in Alberta on the Peace River at Peace Point and the Slave River at Fitzgerald. Within the NWT, monitoring will resume at ECCC’s long-term water quality monitoring sites on the Hay River near the Alberta-NWT border and on the Slave River Above the Mouth.
“Canada’s freshwater is one of our most precious natural resources and it deserves protection for present and future generations,” said Michael V. McLeod, member of parliament for Northwest Territories. “Our Government is committed to working with other orders of government to achieve that goal.”
Water samples collected will be analyzed at Taiga Environmental Laboratories in Yellowknife and will also be distributed to Government of Canada-designated laboratories for further analysis.
Header Image Credit: Tessa MacIntosh, WWF-Canada.
