RADILIH KOE'/FORT GOOD HOPE - Fort Good Hope residents are renewing their push for a new drinking water source after a federal study found increasing levels of contaminants in fish near the community, causing some residents to stop fishing and start buying bottled water.

Climate change has led to higher concentrations of mercury, DDT and PCBs in some fish in the Mackenzie River near Fort Good Hope, according to a Department of Fisheries and Oceans study. The study, completed in December 2009 and published in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, found as temperatures in the region get warmer, less ice forms on the river and microscopic plant-like life, such as algae, multiply. Particles of harmful chemicals in the water - left over from southern air pollution more than 20 years ago, before DDT and PCBs were banned - stick to the algae. The fish then eat the algae and the contaminants work their way up the food chain.

The study only measured burbot - also known as loche - taken from the Mackenzie River near Fort Good Hope by local fishermen every year for the past 10 years.

One of the report's authors, Gary Stern, a senior research scientist at DFO's Freshwater Institute in Winnipeg, said scientists are continuing to monitor the fish.

"The most important thing is that we know that climate change is negatively affecting contaminant levels in those fish," he said.

Between 1985 and 2008, scientists found the concentrations of mercury, DDT and PCBs has doubled. The most recent level of mercury found in the fish was .4 micrograms per gram, below Health Canada's set maximum safe level of .5.

If the trend continues, mercury concentrations could hit that safe maximum in about five years, said Stern.

"The levels are going up, but they're still not a health concern for people so we want to make sure they know they should continue to consume the fish," he said, adding that scientists have no reason to think contaminants are increasing everywhere in the Mackenzie River, since they've only studied one type of fish from a select area.

"The benefits still outweigh the risk."

Stern said officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and Health Canada plan to visit the Sahtu this spring to inform residents.

In Fort Good Hope, this study confirms some community members' fears about the quality of their water.

"The whole idea of clean, quality water for consumption is all in doubt now," said James Caesar, a self-government negotiations co-ordinator for Fort Good Hope. "It's showing up in the fish and we're sharing the same water source as the fish. A lot of people are concerned about the health of our members in the community."

Water from the Mackenzie River sits in a reservoir and is treated with chlorine in water trucks before it's delivered to the homes of Fort Good Hope residents. Regular tests of the water have all shown that it is safe to drink. However, Caesar says the community would be better served if it got its water supply near Jackfish Lake instead.

"Prior to people taking their water from the river, there was hardly any sickness. But since then, we've seen a lot of cases of cancer, different diseases," he said.

"We've been asking the GNWT to look at an alternative source for a water supply and that's the whole idea behind it."

The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has Fort Good Hope on tap for an upgrade to its water treatment plant, said Eleanor Young, director of community operations.

"The process is just in the planning stages right now, so there will be a new plant put in there that meets the Canadian Drinking Water Guidelines over the next couple years," she said. The upgrades are planned to include installation of a filtration system, paid for through the federal Building Canada fund. The communities of Lutsel K'e, Jean Marie River, Trout Lake and Wrigley are also scheduled to have their plants upgraded.

Young said the new treatment system in Fort Good Hope will likely be designed to decrease the turbidity of the water, which is caused by sediments in the river, and is not prompted by concerns over chemical contaminants.

Yet, the usual fishing spot in Fort Good Hope is empty - "they don't trust the fish anymore," Caesar says.

"People don't like to buy processed food from the stores and fish is kind of like a staple for us so now, as an alternative, we have to go further inland to freshwater lakes," he added. "It affects elders because they can't go as far out and get the fish themselves so they have to rely on younger people to get the fish for them."

Roger Boniface, president of the Fort Good Hope Renewable Resources Council, is part of the team that sends the fish to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans every year.

He said the community has been concerned about the water quality for the past 20 years.

"It's been years and years. The elders always wanted a new water treatment plant." Boniface served the past two years on band council, fruitlessly pushing the need for a new water source.

"We do have a concern, because right now nobody's hooking loche," he said. "It's warm now and usually there's a lot of people out. There's nobody out now."

As chief in the community, Arthur Tobac said he is looking forward to meeting with federal government representatives to deal with the issue. Then, the community will have "a better idea where we are," he said.

"I did have some documentation that was sent to me but I have yet to really review it and get to discussing it with some people here," Tobac added, "so it's kind of premature for me to say anything right now."