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NRBS Final Report
NRBS Fact Sheet
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CANADA - ALBERTA - NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
RESPONSE to THE NORTHERN RIVER BASINS STUDY
I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
The forest industry in northern Alberta expanded rapidly in
the late 1980s. With this expansion came a variety of public
concerns about the ecological impacts that might arise from
the discharge of pulp mill effluents to the Peace, Athabasca
and Slave River systems. These concerns were underscored by
findings that some of the fish in these rivers were contaminated
by chlorinated dioxins and furans discharged from the two existing
bleached kraft pulp mills on the Wapiti and Athabasca Rivers.
Concerns about pulp mill impacts became further apparent during
environmental impact assessment hearings on the Alberta-Pacific
Forest Industries plant on the Athabasca River.
In response, the governments of Canada, Alberta and the
Northwest Territories agreed in the autumn of 1991 to launch an intensive
study to obtain further scientific information on the existing
conditions in, and effects of development on, the aquatic
ecosystem of the northern river basins. The ultimate goal
was to provide a basis for the wise management of the basins'
natural resources. As well as providing a sound information
base, the study was designed to develop ways to predict future
impacts and to consult effectively with the public. A multi-stakeholder
Study Board was appointed to manage the study. The board generated
16 questions to guide the investigations, which began in 1992.
Many of the 16 questions were in response to the main concerns
of basin residents: "Can we drink the water? Can we eat the
fish?" The Board released its Report to the Ministers
at the end of the Northern River Basins Study in
June 1996.
The Study Board conducted its work in a spirit of openness.
Findings were presented from about 150 projects on such diverse
topics as river flow, hydraulics, nutrients, dissolved oxygen,
contaminants, fisheries, ecosystem health, traditional knowledge,
cumulative effects, modelling, drinking water, resource use
and human health. The study found that, on the whole, the
condition of aquatic ecosystems in the northern basins is
good. Dioxins and furans in fish are declining, and most basin
residents have access to good quality drinking water.
The Study identified a number of key issues that warrant
further action. These issues include:
- adopting pollution prevention as a primary environmental
objective
- improving water treatment in smaller communities
- evaluating hormone disruption and effects on the reproductive
biology of fish
- developing winter dissolved oxygen guidelines
- reducing nutrients and biochemical oxygen demand in effluents
- remediation in the Peace-Athabasca Delta
- operation of the Bennett Dam
- protection of the Wapiti and Smoky Rivers
- enhanced monitoring on the upper Athabasca River
- reviewing fish tissue consumption guidelines
- new advisory bodies
- creating an integrated ecosystem monitoring committee
- creating a steering committee for the transition to successor
organizations
- the early signing of the Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary
Waters Master Agreement
- incorporating meaningful public participation in future
studies
The Study Board made detailed recommendations regarding these
issues and grouped the recommendations into the following
topics: basin management, reach-specific issues, monitoring,
research, public participation, a successor organization and
First Nations and Métis.
The individual recommendations are listed in Section II of
this document. Following each recommendation, the governments
of Canada, Alberta and the Northwest Territories present an
integrated response, outlining their plans of action to ensure
the long-term environmental protection of the Peace, Athabasca
and Slave Rivers. The three governments have worked cooperatively
to review these recommendations and provide responses that
reflect the individual issue's urgency, as well as fiscal
realities of the governments involved.
Action has already begun on high priority recommendations,
such as reduction of nutrients on the Wapiti River, adoption
of the 6.5 mg/L guideline for dissolved oxygen, and assessing
the impact of flow changes on the Slave River Delta. Further
details of these and other actions in response to the NRBS
recommendations are provided in Section II. Section III gives
an overview of how these responses will be implemented in
the future, although detailed plans have not yet been finalized.
The governments of Canada, Alberta and the
Northwest Territories thank the Board and all involved in the
Northern River Basins Study for their hard work, commitment and valuable
contribution to the knowledge and understanding of these rivers.
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