How To Contribute
This is a Project Concept being developed by Geoscience BC and its members and partners. Geoscience BC is also working with Treaty 8 First Nations to ensure research is coordinated and to create new opportunities for the nations.
We are seeking project sponsors to contribute funding or other support for on-the-ground research. Organizations that contribute funding to Geoscience BC research projects can secure significant tangible benefits, such as early access to valuable data. In addition, industry contributions help to attract further support and investment from others.
Supporting research projects and sponsoring Geoscience BC initiatives demonstrates that your organization understands the value of independent public geoscience, increases your profile and demonstrates leadership.
If you are interested in contributing, please email info@geosciencebc.com. Your information will be sent to the most appropriate member of our team.
The Need
The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation’s 2019 Scientific Review of Hydraulic Fracturing in British Columbia report included a recommendation to increase water quantity and quality monitoring in Northeast BC. Concerns of Treaty 8 First Nations regarding water quality and quantity were also highlighted in the report, along with a need to incorporate Indigenous science into research. The provision of baseline data in the first phase helps meet that need. However, there is further demand for ongoing monitoring to strengthen the dataset and to further develop a “two-eyed seeing” approach that combines settler and Indigenous science.
In addition, the ongoing training of Indigenous communities, whose land the monitoring equipment sits on, can facilitate their ability to eventually operate, maintain and data monitor the equipment to enable their informed decisions on water issues in their territories.
Project Goals
This Water Project Concept fits under our Strategic Objective of Understanding Water. It also works towards the Goal to increase collaboration with Indigenous groups and undertake relevant Geoscience BC research that fosters their socioeconomic development, while also supporting our objectives.
Specifically, this Project Concept aims to:
- Collaborate with project partners and participating Treaty 8 First Nations, continuing maintenance and monitoring of the Phase 1 water and climate equipment.
- Continue training of First Nation community members on installation, maintenance and data gathering from the water and climate equipment.
- Continue testing sites for water quality and continue testing for benthic health through CABIN sampling and analyses.
- Coordinate activities of this project with existing and new First Nation and other entity water monitoring projects and initiatives.
- Continue gathering, cataloguing and assessing Indigenous science for water quantity, quality and other watershed and stream health indicators in the project area.
- In coordination and input with First Nations, install new water monitoring equipment in area(s) with identified data gaps to the extent the project funding allows.
Project Benefits
In addition to continuing collection of baseline data recommended in the Scientific Review of Hydraulic Fracturing in British Columbia report, this Project Concept will generate valuable public, foundational research that considers both settler and Indigenous science that can be used by industry, governments, communities, regulators and Indigenous groups making water use and resource development decisions in Northeast BC and Treaty 8 First Nation territories.
The datasets generated will improve understanding of surface water quantity, quality and availability in the region, and will provide supporting groundwater and climate data to assess watershed water balances and groundwater-surface water interactions.
Location
This research is associated with the Montney Formation area in BC’s Northeast Region and the territories of BC’s Treaty 8 First Nations.
Geoscience BC encourages anyone planning exploration work to first contact Indigenous groups in the area. The Province of British Columbia’s Consultative Areas Database can help with this (https://maps.gov.bc.ca/ess/hm/cadb/). The Association for Mineral Exploration (AME) also produces an Indigenous Engagement Guidebook.