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| Last Review/Updated: September 4, 2002 |
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NRBS Response
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CANADA - ALBERTA - NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
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Recommendations1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13-24 First Nations/Métis |
| 1.1 | Regulatory agencies for the northern rivers declare
and implement, through law, policy and practice, pollution prevention,
including but not limited to zero discharge, as a primary environmental
objective and as an important component of sustainable development.
The governments of Canada, Alberta, and the Northwest Territories declare pollution prevention as a primary environmental objective and as an essential component of sustainable development. All three governments endorse the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment document "A National Commitment to Pollution Prevention (November, 1993)." Pollution prevention is implemented by means of federal, provincial, and territorial laws, regulations, and practices. Canada implements this commitment through its policy entitled "Pollution Prevention - A Federal Strategy for Action (1995)." Alberta manages wastewater discharges through its Industrial Effluent Limits Policy (December, 1995): "Limits for effluent discharges will be based on the most stringent of two approaches: either that required to meet ambient water quality objectives or that based on best available technology. Discharges are further minimized by optimizing the operation of individual treatment systems". It is recognized that zero discharge is one means of achieving pollution prevention. However, zero discharge for all wastes in liquid effluents would be very difficult to achieve, and could result in other waste disposal challenges. Nevertheless, pollution prevention practices are becoming ever-more stringent with time, resulting in the progressive reduction of point source contaminant discharges. The governments commit to maintaining this trend (see recommendations 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 below). The governments also acknowledge that non-point source inputs and atmospheric deposition of pollutants can be important, and commit to addressing these in pollution prevention strategies. |
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| 1.2 | For contaminants;
The governments agree that elimination is the ultimate goal for persistent and bioaccumulative toxic substances, and note that work towards this goal has already been implemented for dioxins, furans and PCBs. Persistent toxic substances refer to those compounds which are toxic, accumulate in plants and animals, do not readily breakdown in the environment and which originate as a consequence of human activities. Direct loadings of dioxins and furans to the northern rivers have come mainly from bleached kraft pulp mills. In Alberta, the generation and discharge of these contaminants have been significantly reduced in the last several years as a result of technology improvements, specifically at the Weldwood plant at Hinton and the Weyerhaeuser plant at Grande Prairie. Further reductions are being sought from the Daishowa-Marubeni mill at Peace River. The Alberta Pacific mill near Athabasca does not have detectable amounts of these substances in its effluent. The net result is that direct loadings of these substances to the northern rivers will continue to decline, even from 1996 levels. NRBS studies have confirmed that levels of dioxins and furans have now been significantly reduced in fish tissue as a result of these improvements. Toxaphene, a persistent toxic pesticide, was also reported by NRBS to occur in the food chains of the northern river basins. It probably reaches the basins by long-range atmospheric transport. The sources of this pesticide are external to the basins and believed to be external to Canada. Therefore, control of toxaphene will be pursued by Canada through international mechanisms (see Recommendation 1.5). Mercury is bioaccumulative and persistent, and was detected by NRBS in several fish species at various locations throughout the basins. NRBS was unable to characterize any significant, single, point source of mercury. The governments commit to long-term monitoring of mercury and other contaminants in fish tissue and to the associated assessments of human health implications (see Recommendation 12.1). The governments also note the concern expressed by the NRBS Board concerning polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). This class of contaminants is currently regulated and there are no known point sources in the northern basins. Therefore, the generation or discharge of these contaminants appears to have been eliminated. Nevertheless, Alberta and Canada will conduct further site-specific investigations of PCB contamination issues identified by NRBS (see Recommendation 13). The objective of the federal Toxic Substances Management Policy is the virtual elimination of persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic substances. Alberta will use its Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and its Industrial Effluent Limits Policy to implement reductions of these contaminants and to continue to progress toward elimination. Canada will use the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Fisheries Act and the Toxic Substances Management Policy. The Alberta Environment and Enhancement Act process and the federal Policy both allow for public review and input to the regulatory control of such contaminants. Alberta reports on the effectiveness of effluent discharge regulation by issuing periodic data summaries entitled "Alberta Industrial and Municipal Effluent Quality Monitoring." |
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| 1.3 | For nutrients;
The governments agree with the need for nutrient control and will continue to seek reductions in point-source discharges of nutrients. Through its Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act approvals process, and under the Industrial Effluent Limits Policy (1995), Alberta is requiring pulp mills to develop and implement nutrient reduction programs. Nutrients are added to pulp mill wastewater treatment systems to optimize microbial breakdown of organic wastes. There will, therefore, always be small concentrations of nutrients in effluents but the reduction programs will bring these amounts down to levels equivalent to those typically obtained by tertiary treatment. The governments will develop water management plans for the long-term protection of these rivers which will include reach-specific objectives for controlling nutrients (see Recommendation 10.1). The development of these plans will include consultation with stakeholders and the general public. To ensure the long-term protection of selected river reaches identified by NRBS, certain municipalities will also be required to implement tertiary treatment for nutrients. This requirement will be applied to Grande Prairie during its forthcoming Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act Approval renewal. The sewage treatment plant at Jasper townsite is also undergoing review and modification to improve nutrient control (see Recommendation 2.5). In the Northwest Territories the NWT Water Board has issued environmental management objectives for municipal sewage discharges and sets site-specific requirements in water licences. The approval processes for controlling all of these discharges are open to the public. The relationships between river biota and nutrient concentrations are very complex. The governments agree that such knowledge is a fundamental component of water management plans. Accordingly, Canada and Alberta have agreed to pursue joint research efforts to understand and quantify these relationships (see Recommendations 2.5 and 10.1). The federal government is conducting an extensive review of the impacts of municipal effluents and nutrients on Canadian aquatic ecosystems. The results of this review will be pertinent to the northern rivers and the development of water quality guidelines. |
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| 1.4 | For other wastes;
The governments agree that other wastes should be restricted, with a view to reduction or eventual elimination of their discharge to rivers. Canada and Alberta have been pursuing this goal by placing high priority on the reduction of other wastes discharged from pulp mills. These wastes affect colour, odour and other aesthetic characteristics, and have been shown to negatively impact the use of receiving waters. For example, the older pulp mills (Weldwood and Weyerhaeuser) are presently on a compliance schedule to reduce the amount of colour in their effluents. Continuing technological developments will allow further reductions in waste discharges from other industrial sectors. For example, technology is being developed in the oil sands industry that promises to reduce and eventually eliminate the existing large tailings ponds, and reduce existing discharges from plant operations. These reductions are also handled under the Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act approvals process, which allows for full public disclosure and input. The federal government is committed to work cooperatively with the provinces and industry to continue to pursue such reductions and to achieve improved waste management overall. Canada and Alberta will soon complete a province-wide evaluation of agricultural impacts on the aquatic environment. This work was conducted under the Canada- Alberta Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture Agreement, which was a federal-provincial cost-shared program operating from 1992 to 1997. The program has yielded substantial information which can be used in the future to minimize water pollution from agricultural non-point sources. A successor program, called the Alberta Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture Program, will ensure that research continues on this topic. |
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| 1.5 | Regarding international agreements;
Canada is committed to addressing the transboundary movement of hazardous air pollutants and is involved in the management of chemicals through the 1991 Canada-United States Air Quality Agreement. Canada is also a participant in the "Partnership for Pollution Prevention" developed by the Organization of American States to advance continental action to reduce the atmospheric transport and deposition of lead and pesticides. Through the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's "Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution", Canada works towards the development of new protocols on persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals. The global management of persistent organic pollutants is being pursued through the United Nations Environmental Program. Canada and Alberta are involved internationally in the sound management of chemicals as partners in the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation under the North American Free Trade Agreement. |
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| 1.6 | And with respect to performance evaluation;
The federal and provincial governments regularly report on the state of the aquatic environment and pollution control effectiveness by means of interpretive technical reports, annual reports, performance measures, State-of-the-Environment Reports, and public meetings. These communication mechanisms will be continued and will cover actions taken in response to the NRBS recommendations. The task of addressing progress on the NRBS recommendations will also be referred to the Board to be constituted under the Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Waters Master Agreement (see Recommendation 23). |
| 2.1 | The Government of Alberta and Canada initiate
and complete the necessary studies to determine the winter dissolved
oxygen requirement for fish and other aquatic species as
per the CCME Guidelines Protocol, and subsequently assess the oxygen
requirements for the organisms in the various reaches of the
northern rivers.
Canada and Alberta have committed to develop a joint three-year research plan to further assess the dissolved oxygen requirements of aquatic biota, and initiated preliminary studies in March, 1997 on this issue. In the Athabasca River, benthic invertebrates at the location of lowest dissolved oxygen levels were monitored to gather direct information on the biological effects of winter dissolved oxygen conditions. |
| 2.2 | Alberta adopt the CCME Dissolved Oxygen Guideline
of 6.5 mg/L as an overall provincial approach in making decisions
on future development proposals.
Alberta accepts this recommendation and is adopting the 6.5 mg/L guideline province-wide. It is noted that winter dissolved oxygen concentrations in the Athabasca River have met the existing Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment guideline of 6.5 mg/L throughout this decade. The federal government also applies this guideline for use in the National Parks and the Northwest Territories. |
| 2.3 | Throughout the basin, nutrient and biological
oxygen demand monitoring be improved, especially for municipal
sewage treatment facilities and some pulp mills. Standards for
Quality Assurance / Quality Control requirements be enhanced
for existing and future effluent licences and permits. These
data be logged in a central database and linked to provincial
water quality data.
The governments agree that monitoring, quality control, and data management are very important. A large amount of performance data is available for municipal and pulp mill effluent treatment systems, so that governments now have a good understanding of the expected levels of biochemical oxygen demand and nutrients in these effluents. Alberta will examine these data regularly as nutrient management strategies are developed for the northern rivers and will improve effluent monitoring as required. Nutrient and biochemical oxygen demand monitoring in the northern river mainstems will also receive regular reviews and upgrades (see Recommendation 11). A new data management system (ENVIRODAT) is being implemented by both Canada and Alberta. It will store effluent and surface water quality data together, thereby improving data access and sharing among all users. Ready access to stored quality assurance/quality control data is a feature of ENVIRODAT. |
| 2.4 | Phosphorus concentrations in pulp mill effluents
be reduced to minimal levels. Alberta require pulp mills to
monitor and assess their operations to ensure that phosphorus
additions are not in excess of what is needed to minimize BOD
of effluent.
Alberta is actively seeking nutrient reductions through the pollution prevention and minimization initiatives stipulated in pulp mill approvals under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act. The objective is to ensure that mills do not use any more phosphorus than is required to optimize the performance of their wastewater treatment systems (see also Recommendation 1.3). |
| 2.5 | Municipal sewage effluent may require tertiary
treatment to reduce phosphorus additions at certain locations.
The Board recognizes the significant cost implications but emphasizes
the importance of reducing phosphorus inputs over the long-term.
Particular attention is drawn to the Wapiti / Smoky system at
Grande Prairie, and to the inadequately treated municipal sewage
entering the upper Athabasca River from the town of Jasper in
Jasper National Park.
The governments agree with the importance of reducing phosphorus discharges at certain locations within the northern river basins. Alberta will require the City of Grande Prairie to implement tertiary treatment for phosphorus reduction at its municipal sewage treatment plant (see Recommendation 1.3). Canada, in cooperation with the Jasper Town Committee, is currently designing a new sewage treatment plant for that community. Tertiary treatment for phosphorus has been agreed upon and the target date for completion of the plant is the summer of 1999. Canada and Alberta will develop a joint research plan in the autumn of 1997 to further refine reach-specific water quality objectives used to regulate nutrient discharges in the Wapiti/Smoky and upper Athabasca River systems. |
| 3.1 | The federal, provincial and territorial governments
increase their efforts in the smaller communities to educate
facility owners regarding the need to properly operate the water
treatment facilities including the use of the existing programs
for operator training, certification and assistance.
The governments acknowledge that a concerted, ongoing effort is required to educate operators and maintain drinking water facilities in small communities. The governments will work together to maximize efficiency in this regard. Alberta will maintain its programs of communication, assistance, training, and certification for operators. As well, Alberta will continue to work with the Plant Operator's Association in the preparation of an operator's manual for small treatment systems. Canada will provide assistance for First Nations to run training and certification programs. Canada will continue to assist First&nbps;Nations with the monitoring of water quality and with advice on human health. The government of the Northwest Territories will co-operate with associations such as the NWT Water and Wastewater Association to raise the standard and expertise for operator training and certification. |
| 3.2 | The federal, provincial and territorial governments
ensure that there are adequate treatment facilities, equipment
and operating standards for their constituents.
The governments agree with this recommendation and will work closely with local governments and First&nbps;Nations to ensure this is always the case. |
| 4.1 | The proposed Alberta Water Act make specific provision
for the integration of water quantity and water quality planning
and administration.
The governments concur with this recommendation. The new Alberta Water Act includes provisions that recognize the importance of integrating water quantity and water quality planning and administration, and therefore addresses this concern. |
| 5.1 | The Government of Alberta provide leadership in
water management planning incorporating, as a first priority
in the water management process, instream flow needs for ecological
purposes in the northern rivers and their tributaries within
the province.
Alberta commits to providing such leadership. The commitment is demonstrated in specific provisions of the new Alberta Water Act which call for the development of water management plans that incorporate aquatic environmental protection strategies. Instream flow needs for the protection of biological communities will be incorporated as a high priority in the planning. |
| 6.1 | Jurisdictions of the northern river basins strengthen
and publicize inspection and enforcement activities with respect
to protection of water quantity and quality.
The NRBS Board found that basin residents were not fully aware of the range of inspection and enforcement activities already being undertaken by governments. The governments agree that enforcement of environmental laws is very important. Under federal and provincial laws several enforcement tools are used to accomplish this including: tickets, enforcement orders, administrative penalties, prosecutions, and cancellation of approvals or certificates. The governments endorse the publicizing of enforcement actions taken and note that both the federal and provincial governments publish annual reports on this topic. In the Northwest Territories the federal government makes inspection reports relating to water licences available to the public on request. The three governments will develop improved mechanisms to inform the public. |
| 7.1 | The governments of Canada, Alberta and British
Columbia implement an action plan for reclamation of the Peace-Athabasca
Delta, the plan to include provisions for environmental impact
assessment and public consultation with delta residents and
with those that might be affected downstream, such as at the
Slave River Delta.
The governments agree to the long-term protection of the ecologically important deltas of the northern river basins. Furthermore, governments recognize their societal importance. NRBS studies identified several deficiencies in our understanding of the ecological effects of flow regulation and of hydrologic-climatic interrelationships. Canada and Alberta, in concert with First&nbps;Nations and BC Hydro, released the final report of the Peace-Athabasca Delta Technical Studies in March, 1997. Based on these results and those of the NRBS, Canada, Alberta, and BC Hydro in partnership have initiated a follow-up study to specifically assess the hydrological and climatic conditions in 1996 that resulted in two significant floods of the delta. Based on the findings of all studies, Canada and Alberta will work with stakeholders to develop appropriate action plans for management and research which will include environmental evaluations and public consultation. |
| 7.2 | As a principle for any future negotiations on
mitigation of the impacts of the Bennett Dam, that the dam's
operating regime be modified to help rehabilitate the Peace-Athabasca
Delta and the riparian and aquatic conditions of the Peace River
system. Further, that economic considerations of power production
from this industry should not take precedence over the environmental
stability and natural ecosystem of the Peace River, Peace-Athabasca
Delta, Slave River and Delta and the Mackenzie River system.
The governments agree that the operating regime of the Bennett Dam must consider downstream impacts. Alberta has been negotiating with British Columbia on water management issues in the Peace River for over a decade, particularly with regard to operation of the Bennett Dam. This has had some benefit in terms of mitigating impacts on the town of Peace River and on winter ice bridges along the river. More recently, there has been co-operation in operating the dam in such a way as to enhance spring flows in the Peace-Athabasca Delta with the hope of flooding the unique "perched" basins. The governments will continue negotiations with the province of British Columbia to mitigate the effects of the Bennett Dam on downstream ecosystems. Any mitigation for the Peace-Athabasca Delta will require careful consideration of the results of all studies, as noted above for Recommendation 7.1. |
| 8.1 | Formal arrangements be made to ensure that land
use planning and water use planning are integrated as basin
management planning throughout the northern river basins;
The governments agree with these recommendations and note that such formal planning arrangements have now been set out in the recently passed Alberta Water Act. As noted in the response to recommendation 1.1, land use effects (as non-point source inputs), local atmospheric deposition, and long range transport of air pollutants, are specifically acknowledged as important elements of aquatic ecosystem planning and protection. Alberta is committed to integrating its natural resource management decision- making. This commitment is supported by the corporate structure of Alberta Environmental Protection which includes lands, forests, parks, fish, wildlife, water, air and water approvals, and pollution control enforcement. Canada conducts integrated planning as part of its strategy to manage Wood Buffalo and Jasper National Parks. Further research is needed to fully understand the ecological effects of land use changes. Governments commit to work with industry and other stakeholders to identify priority research needs. In addition to the Northern Forest Research Centre in Edmonton and forestry research at the Alberta Research Council, Vegreville, Canada and Alberta are supporting the Foothills Model Forest, and the Network Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Forest Management at the University of Alberta. Other research programs at the National Hydrology Research Institute, Saskatoon, and at the Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada, Vancouver, are continuing forestry-related research in these basins. Alberta has commissioned the Alberta Forest Conservation Strategy, and has established a Forest Management Science Council to advise on the best management of forests. Recommendations have been received from these two initiatives and are under consideration. |
| 9.1 | The government of Canada, the Northwest Territories,
Alberta, British Columbia an Saskatchewan exercise their legislative
powers to the fullest in preventing major diversions of basin
water outside of the northern river basins.
Canada, Alberta, and the Northwest Territories will exercise their powers to the fullest to prevent major diversions of water out of the basin. In Alberta, the recently passed Water Act prohibits the transfer of water between major river basins. Also, the Federal Water Policy (1987) prohibits the export of water through inter-basin diversions. |
| 10.1 | The Ministers direct action to be undertaken to
protect the Smoky and Wapiti Rivers from further dissolved oxygen,
nutrient and contaminant stress, and undertake to develop and
apply reach-specific guidelines and associated regulatory requirements
relevant to the small size of these rivers.
The governments concur with this recommendation and acknowledge the need to carefully manage water quality in this river system. Alberta has obtained reductions in loading to the Wapiti River for several contaminants, and is working with the City of Grande Prairie and the Weyerhaeuser pulp mill on further reductions. Any new developments on the Wapiti/Smoky River system will be subject to stringent discharge restrictions and will have to work with the existing facilities to ensure that water quality is protected. In 1997, Alberta will initiate the development of a water quality management strategy for the Wapiti River which will include reach-specific objectives for nutrients. Alberta is also preparing updated provincial water quality guidelines for other pollutants which will be stringent enough to protect aquatic life in all rivers. Canada and Alberta, in cooperation with industry, will conduct further studies on the relationship among nutrients, dissolved oxygen, contaminants, and the biota in these systems. |
| 10.2 | Fish contamination and fish health effects be
assessed for the populations of fish in the Slave River Delta
ecosystem.
Canada and the Northwest Territories agree that deficiencies exist in our knowledge base concerning fish contaminants and fish health for the Slave River Delta fish populations. Therefore, they agree to conduct studies to address these information gaps. Through the cooperation and funding support of several federal government departments, contaminant investigations (metals, organochlorine compounds, and metallothionein) focusing on water, sediments and fish were conducted during 1996. The investigations will be completed and reports prepared by 1998/99. Canada will maintain its food inspection program for fisheries to ensure that all commercially caught fish in the NRBS area meet human health consumption guidelines (see Recommendation 12.1). |
| 10.3 | Monitoring activity be intensified in the reach
of the Athabasca River from Hinton to below Whitecourt.
The governments of Canada and Alberta agree that this reach of the Athabasca River requires intensive surveillance. Accordingly, Alberta has expanded its monitoring in this reach to include more detailed surveys of nutrients and benthic algae, while at the same time maintaining the existing year-round networks of water quality and quantity stations, some of which are run in conjunction with the federal government. A report summarizing the results of this enhanced monitoring work will be produced in 1998. Follow-up on PCB contamination will be done (see Recommendation 13), and joint investigation of fish health in this reach will also be undertaken (see Recommendation 15). As well, intensive monitoring in this reach is being undertaken by the pulp and paper mills in accordance with the federal Pulp and Paper Mills Environmental Effects Monitoring Guidelines, and provincial regulations. |
| 11.1 | The Alberta and Northwest Territories Governments
invite representatives of the governments of Canada, British
Columbia and Saskatchewan, municipalities, industry, universities,
First&nbps;Nations and other agencies involved in monitoring activities,
in consultation with an advisory committee involving members
of all stakeholder groups concerned with or affected by monitoring
activities, to participate in an Integrated Ecosystem Monitoring
Committee (IEMC). The role of the IEMC would be to coordinate
and oversee technical and scientific aspects of water quality,
water quantity and biota monitoring in the northern river basins
to ensure minimal duplication of effort and greatest collective
efficiency. The IEMC would adopt an ecosystem approach to environmental
monitoring (see Synthesis Report #10).
The governments agree that an integrated monitoring committee is in the best interests of northern basins stakeholders and will refer this recommendation to the Board to be established under the Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Waters Master Agreement. The Board would determine the membership of any such monitoring committee, taking into account the stakeholders and the agencies with monitoring responsibilities. The Integrated Ecosystem Monitoring Committee would serve to co-ordinate and optimize aquatic ecosystem monitoring, particularly with regard to transboundary waters. The committee would identify issues and problems, promote standardization of methods, ensure quality control, minimize duplication, and provide for public input into the development of monitoring programs. It may set up expert sub-committees to deal with specific aspects such as hydrology, water quality, and fisheries. Governments would participate fully in such a committee, providing technical and scientific support, and would submit their monitoring programs to it for scrutiny and feedback. |
| 12.1 | Alberta Health, Alberta Environment and
Northwest Territories Health and Social Services, together with Health
Canada and First&nbps;Nations Health Authorities be charged with
the responsibility of leading and coordinating the development
of new, human health-based fish consumption policies, standards
and guidelines for the Northern River Basins. This will require
close collaboration and cooperation with other provincial, territorial
and federal agencies, to rationalize and harmonize the extent
of advisories across administrative boundaries. The process
should build on the data and information generated by periodic
surveys of fish contaminants. An improved mechanism should include
the timely interpretation of findings, dissemination of information
in a meaningful and culturally sensitive fashion, and contemporary
population health risk assessment, risk management and risk
communication concepts.
The Governments of Canada, Alberta and the Northwest Territories are cooperating to review the NRBS contaminant and dietary information for people who live within the basin, and to evaluate the applicability of the existing human health consumption advisories for the basins. The review of contaminant data by Canada and Alberta is underway and will be completed in 1997. The current fish consumption advisories will be amended as necessary. The review of fish consumption policies, standards and guidelines will involve First&nbps;Nations and Métis communities and the results will be communicated directly back to them. Canada and Alberta will design and implement routine fish tissue testing programs for key species and reaches of the northern rivers. The data collected in these programs will be regularly evaluated against tissue consumption guidelines established for the protection of human health. |
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