Partnership for integrated hydrological monitoring, research, and training, in the Apex River watershed
With funding from POLAR Knowledge Canada, the NRI and NAC's Environmental Technology Program partnered with researchers from Carleton University, Queen’s University and Environment and Climate Change Canada to conduct a three-year water research and training project in the Niaqungut (Apex) River watershed. Activities include measurement and modelling of water quality and quantity, with a major focus on accurate determination of the annual, end-of-winter snow accumulation with intensive ground-based surveys.
Each April, snow surveys are conducted by ETP students over the course of 3-5 days to quantify the landscape snow water equivalent or SWE (the amount of water stored in snowpack on the landscape) prior to the spring melt period. Automated measurement of snowfall amounts is particularly challenging in Arctic tundra landscapes due to high winds, making it important to measure the end of winter SWE on the ground. These data can be used to accurately track year-to-year changes in annual snowfall, which accounts for about half of the annual precipitation in this region, and its potential longer-term changes in response to climate warming. This partnership aims to build capacity for long-term SWE monitoring and to continue this important observation record for years to come, in support of water balance assessment and water security initiatives in the community of Iqaluit.
Freshwater quality monitoring of the Niaqungut River was also conducted from 2012 to 2017, including weekly stream sampling for dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen, total nitrogen and phosphorous, and major anions and cations. At one nearby lake, water quality and zooplankton sampling was conducted in early July and in late September just prior to freeze-up. Zooplankton samples are enumerated for both total biomass and species composition, and measured for total mercury content. These data will be used to understand seasonal and inter-annual variability in surface water quality regimes and how they are influenced by hydrologic processes and change. Our goal is to continue these sampling efforts as part of a longer-term monitoring issue, in combination with hydrometric gauging and annual, end-of-winter snow surveys.
In 2017, POLAR funds were received to install a new micrometeorology station approximately 4 km from the community of Iqaluit, including a state-of-the-art Eddy Covariance (EC) system for measuring water, energy and carbon dioxide exchange over the tundra ecosystem. The EC system is currently operational and is filling an important data gap for this region of Canada’s eastern Arctic.
Rindy Hinanik Measures snow depth in the Niaqungut watershed using a snow coring tube (April, 2016)
Apex River Microbial Monitoring Project
In 2009, NRI initiated a project to monitor indicator bacteria (total coliforms and Escherichia coli) in the Apex (Niaqungut) river, which has been selected as a supplementary potable water source for the community of Iqaluit. This long-term monitoring program has been conducted annually every year since 2009 and will provide baseline information on microbial water quality trends during the annual open water period (approximately from June to October). We hope to determine the timing of seasonal peak loads of bacteria, and understand how factors such as river discharge, water temperature, and organic carbon might influence bacteria levels. Every year we work with students from Arctic College's Environmental Technology Program to collect and test river water samples from drinking water collection sites utlized by community members. Water samples are processed at the NRI's water lab in Iqaluit using defined substrate technology (IDEXX) which allows for rapid, reliable, and simple detection and enumeration of total coliforms and E. coli in surface waters and can be employed effectively for community-based monitoring.
For more information on the water monitoring project, please contact Jamal Shirley, NRI's Manager of Research Design.