1. Mackenzie Data Management System
Pilot
Mackenzie Data Management System
Arctic Change, December 2014
Carolyn DuBois
Water Program Manager
The Gordon Foundation
Dr. Erin Kelly
Associate Assistant Deputy Minister
Department of Environment and Natural Resources Government of the Northwest Territories

2. Mackenzie Data Management System: Overview of the Pilot
NWT Water Strategy CBM Data
Communities
Decision-makers
Storage
Interpretation
Visualization

3. Mackenzie River Basin Drains 20% of Canada’s land mass
Among least studied Basins in the world
Basin spans 3 provinces and 3 territories
Many aboriginal peoples maintain subsistence lifestyles within the basin
Experiencing rapid change due to climate change and resource development
Vital to northern livelihoods and health

4. Mackenzie River Basin Initiative Strategy
Objectives
Raise profile of the Basin
Data for decision-making
Basin-wide collaboration
Approach
Support innovative research and communications to strengthen community involvement in freshwater management and policy.

5. Northern Voices, Northern Waters
Northerners expressed concerns about their water
(transportation, subsistence, spiritual, cultural and economic purposes, etc.)
Collaborative effort
(Aboriginal leadership, communities, governments, regulatory boards, environmental non-government organizations and industry, resulted in a draft Strategy (2009))
Strategy released in May 2010 by GNWT and AANDC
guidance provided by Aboriginal Steering Committee

6. Released in May 2011
‘Keys to Success’ broken down into Action Items
Due dates and lead agencies for each Action Item listed
Released in May 2010
Vision
Goals
‘Keys to Success’

7. Tailor-made community monitoring
Community Questions
Can we drink the water?
What is in the water and is it changing?
What are the impacts of local and upstream development and climate change?
Are there contaminants in the water that can affect the health of fish and wildlife?

8. community-based monitoring sites
NWT-wide
community-based monitoring sites
2012 and 2013 monitoring locations
2014 sampling season
20 communities
40+ sites throughout the NWT

9. Equipment to measure what is happening at the time of sampling
YSI Sonde 6600 – every 2- 4 hours
Measures: Temperature, Conductivity, pH, Oxidation/Reduction Potential (ORP), Dissolved Oxygen, Turbidity, Chlorophyll
Grab Water Samples – 3 to 5 times
Measures: Over 70 parameters
Taiga Laboratory, Yellowknife

10. Equipment to measure what is happening over longer periods of time
Passive Samplers
Diffusion Gradient in Thin Films (DGTs) – 3 days
Measures: Dissolved Metals
Trent University, Peterborough
Polyethylene Membrane Device (PMDs) – 1 month
Measures: Dissolved Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PACs)
University Alberta, Edmonton

11. Partnering to Build a Pilot Mackenzie Data Management System
NWT Water Strategy monitoring locations, partners and communities
Dehcho First Nations Aboriginal Aquatic Resources and Ocean Management
Inuvialuit Settlement Community-based Monitoring Program
NWT Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program
Wek’eezhii Land and Water Board and Renewable Resources Board
Behchokǫ̀ - Tłįchǫ Government
Dettah and N’dilo - Yellowknives Dene First Nation
Fort Fitzgerald - Smith Landing First Nation
Fort Good Hope- Yamoga Land Corporation, Community Council, Metis Land Corporation and Renewable Resource Council
Fort Smith - Fort Smith Metis Local, Northwest Territory Metis Nation, Salt River First Nation, and the Town of Fort Smith
Fort McPherson- Renewable Resource Council
Fort Providence -Dehcho First Nation
Fort Resolution - Deninu Kue First Nation, Fort Resolution Métis Council and the Hamlet of Fort Resolution
Fort Simpson - Liidlii Kue First Nation
Hay River and Hay River Dene Reserve - K'atl'odeeche First Nation
Inuvik - Hunters & Trappers Committee
Kakisa - Ka'a'geetu First Nation
Nahanni Butte: Nahanni Butte Dene Band
Tulita - Fort Norman Metis Lands and Financial Corporation
Norman Wells – Town of Norman Wells and Renewable Resource Council
Tsiigehtchic - Gwicha Gwich'in Council and Renewable Resource Council
Trout Lake: Sambaa K’e Dene Band
Wrigley - Pehdzeh Ki First Nation

12. Mackenzie Data Management System
NWT Water Strategy CBM Data
Mackenzie Data Management System
Communities
Decision-makers
Storage
Interpretation
Visualization
Pilot
Tesera Systems Inc.
Development underway
Scheduled launch: September 2015
Open source software
Low cost to grow modify and maintain
Hosted on Amazon Cloud
High degree of interoperability
Testing a concept

13. Mackenzie Data Management System
NWT Water Strategy CBM Data
Other CBM datasets
Other parameters: invertebrates, fish, muskrat
Mackenzie Data Management System
Communities basin-wide
Decision-makers basin-wide
Storage
Interpretation
Visualization
Long-term vision
Pilot
Tesera Systems Inc.
Development underway
Scheduled launch: September 2015
Open source software
Low cost to grow modify and maintain
Hosted on Amazon Cloud
High degree of interoperability
Testing a concept
Expand analytical interpretation capabilities
Include other relevant aquatic indicators (invertebrates, fish, muskrat)
Include other CBM datasets, collected throughout the Basin

14. Carolyn DuBois Dr. Erin Kelly Carolyn@gordonfn.org