DOI: 10.21963/12675
title: Baker Lake Cumulative Effects Monitoring Program - Data Mining (NGMP ID LU11)

description: The Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA) has partnered with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada's (AANDC) Nunavut General Monitoring Plan (NGMP) to develop an Aquatic Cumulative Effects Monitoring Program (CEMP) for the Baker Lake Basin. This project is part of a 20 year plan that is being led by the KivIA, coordinated by a secretariat of key players (NGMP, KivIA, AANDC and NWB) and implemented through partnerships between the KivIA, federal and territorial governments, industry (Areva Resources and Agnico Eagle Mining), Kivalliq communities and eventually, universities and academic institutions. The intent of the proposed Aquatic CEMP is to coordinate disparate monitoring programs, levels of government, multiple departments, and interested parties while ensuring the communities of Kivalliq and eventually Nunavut are involved. The CEMP will include western science and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) from the early design stages and facilitate a joint data gathering approach. The resulting data may provide a baseline by which to compare future results. The KIA, the NWB and NGMP therefore initiated the current project to review and assemble a database of baseline water monitoring information for the Baker Lake watershed. This baseline will serve as the starting point to assess future environmental changes within the watershed and strategically plan future monitoring efforts within the CEMP framework. (This is a report: "Baker Lake Basin Baseline Report", prepared by Hutchinson Environmental Sciences Ltd. for the Kivalliq Inuit Association. There is no data.)

description: Climate change, developing industry and growing communities have a strong potential to influence the aquatic environment throughout Nunavut. At present, no dedicated regional monitoring program is in place nor is the data collected by various groups standardized or routinely assembled. This presents a monitoring gap in freshwater baseline information, limiting the ability of industry, regulators and communities to track, attribute, communicate and therefore manage future impacts effectively. The Data Mining exercise represents the first step in developing a western science baseline for use in the Baker Lake Cumulative Effects Monitoring Program that will be complemented by a growing body of IQ (Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit) going forward. In it, we reviewed and collected all available water quality and quantity data for the Baker Lake watershed from the Nunavut Water Board, Environment Canada and mining projects. This historical baseline is one of the early stages in developing the Baker Lake Cumulative Effects Monitoring Program (CEMP) and provides information for future monitoring. It was produced with input from the Kivalliq Inuit Association, Nunavut Water Board, Nunavut General Monitoring Program and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. Data was aggregated from the Nunavut Water Board, Water Survey of Canada, the Canadian Cryospheric Information Network and Environment Canada. The baseline describes data from all five sub-watersheds (Kazan, Thelon, Dubawnt, Baker Lake and Quoich) within the basin to create a characterization in the area from all available data. The Baker Lake Airport Environment Canada monitoring station was used to describe the regional climate. Water Survey of Canada hydrometric stations characterized discharge from the Thelon River (06MA006) and Kazan River (06LC001), and water level in Baker Lake (06MA001) itself. Key water quality parameters frequently analyzed by all monitoring programs in the basin were selected to establish a surface water quality baseline for the area. A complete dataset will be available for future reference as a preliminary CEMP database in Microsoft ACCESS (Copyright).
The goal of this sub project is to assemble information that others have collected in the past. It is the first step in developing a western science baseline for use in the Baker Lake Cumulative Effects Monitoring Program (CEMP).