High praise for Pond Inlet project
High Arctic community honoured for innovative water practices
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, May 12, 2014
MITTIMATALIK/POND INLET
The community of Pond Inlet has been recognized at the national level for its innovative practices and leadership in the area of water stewardship.
The recipients of the Excellence in Water Stewardship Award were announced March 18 by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, the chairperson of the Council of the Federation, who praised the winners for their roles in protecting water quality and promoting conservation.
In total, 13 institutions, businesses and community groups in every Canadian province and territory received a trophy, monetary prize and certificate signed by their respective premiers.
Pond Inlet was recognized for the work it is carrying out on a needs assessment project around building capacity to monitor fresh water quality in a changing climate.
Community member Tim Anaviapik-Soucie and his research partners at the Dalhousie University Centre for Water Resources Studies, the Nunavut Research Institute and ARCTIConnexion are working on developing information on the microbial quality of drinking water sources in the community.
Anaviapik-Soucie, an alumnus of the environmental technology program in Pond Inlet, said his partners' roles include equipping him with the skills and training needed to monitor traditional sources of water by collecting samples at three local sites.
Furthermore, he has to analyze those samples in a lab, collect drinking habits and gather Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.
"Climate change affects the water quality because the global temperature is higher and pathogen bacteria can develop faster than in cold water and new bacteria can bloom," he stated in an e-mail, adding the project has been delayed by funding issues but he hopes it can begin in June.
He said the idea blossomed from conversations in Pond Inlet, both online and face-to-face, regarding the quality of the community's drinking water.
"My mentor, who is involved in all parts of the project (Vincent L'Herault, director of ARCTIConnexion) and I really got started in January by getting interested parties involved and the proposal written and submitted to Health Canada. The project is important to work on for many reasons.
"The community will have the capacity to monitor fresh water sources for changes due to a changing climate. This is a community/research-driven project and to show that collaboration between researchers and communities is important because of the mix of different knowledge to help adapt to climate change."
