In 2010, Aurora Research Institute (ARI) partnered with Environment Canada on the long-term Water Quality and Aquatic Ecosystems Health project. This collaboration, in effect until 2014, will result in new knowledge and data that will contribute to the conservation and restoration of water resources and aquatic ecosystems in the western Canadian Arctic.
Since entering into this partnership, ARI has facilitated field and laboratory research conducted by Environment Canada staff and graduate students in the Inuvik region. ARI technicians and summer students have actively helped with a variety of tasks, including installation of monitoring equipment in study lakes, weekly water sampling, and laboratory analyses of water quality.
These tasks assessed the effects of climate change and resource development on the hydrology, geochemistry, and ecology of freshwater systems in the western Canadian Arctic. Data collected during this project will be used as baseline information to support regional environmental and cumulative effects assessments. ARI is fully committed to supporting Environment Canada as they pursue the objectives of this project.