The Utility of Fish Population Monitoring and Forecast Trigger Development for Designing Adaptive Aquatic Monitoring Plans for Large Industrial Developments.

Most Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) fail to generate effective monitoring and forecast triggers because there is a lack of appropriate baseline data and forecasting, especially for biotic endpoints. Herein, we provide an example of how to develop monitoring and forecast triggers with biotic data, specifically fish populations, to assess impacts of a planned refurbishment of the Mactaquac Hydroelectric Generating Station, a large hydroelectric facility. We recommend strategies for developing interim monitoring triggers until sufficient biological data is collected, including default critical effect sizes or data percentiles when there are only a few years of data.

Improving monitoring of fish health in the oil sands region using regularization techniques and water quality variables.

Trout-perch are sampled from the Athabasca River in Alberta, Canada, as a sentinel species for environmental health. The performance of trout-perch populations is known to be influenced by the quality of the water in which they reside. Using climate, environmental, and water quality variables measured in the Athabasca River near trout-perch sampling locations is found to improve model fitting and the predictability of models for the adjusted body weight, adjusted gonad weight, and adjusted liver weight of trout-perch.

A critical review of the ecological status of lakes and rivers from Canada's oil sands region.

We synthesize the information available from the peer-reviewed literature on the ecological status of lakes and rivers in the oil sands region (OSR) of Canada. The majority of the research from the OSR has been performed in or near the minable region and examines the concentrations, flux, or enrichment of contaminants of concern (CoCs). Proximity to oil sands facilities and the beginning of commercial activities tend to be associated with greater estimates of CoCs across studies.

An integrated knowledge synthesis of regional ambient monitoring in Canada's oil sands.

The desire to document and understand the cumulative implications of oil sands (OS) development in the ambient environment of northeastern Alberta has motivated increased investment and release of information in the past decade. Here, we summarize the knowledge presented in the theme-based review papers in this special series, including air, surface water, terrestrial biology, and Indigenous community-based monitoring in order to (1) consolidate knowledge gained to date, (2) highlight key commonalities and gaps, and (3) leverage this knowledge to assess the state of integration in environmental monitoring efforts in the OS region and suggest next steps. Among air, water, and land studies, the individual reviews identified a clear focus on describing stressors, including primarily (1) contaminant emission, transport, transformation, deposition, and exposure, and (2) landscape disturbance.

Regional and Long-Term Analyses of Stable Isotopes of Fish and Invertebrates Show Evidence of the Closure of a Pulp Mill and the Influence of Additional Stressors.

A bleached kraft pulp mill discharging effluent to the Mattagami River in northern Ontario, Canada, closed after almost 90 yr of operation. During its operation, effluent from the mill influenced biota in the downstream areas. To assess shifts in the reliance of biota from mill-derived nutrients, the isotopic composition (δ C and δ N) of white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) muscle and whole mayflies (Hexagenia sp.

Current knowledge of seepage from oil sands tailings ponds and its environmental influence in northeastern Alberta.

Seepage of oil sand process-affected waters (OSPW) from tailings ponds into surface waters is a common concern in the minable oil sands region of northeast Alberta. Research on seepage has been extensive, but few comprehensive treatments evaluating all aspects relevant to the phenomenon are available. In this work, the current information relevant for understanding the state of seepage from tailings ponds was reviewed.

Overview of Existing Science to Inform Oil Sands Process Water Release: A Technical Workshop Summary.

The extraction of oil sands from mining operations in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region uses an alkaline hot water extraction process. The oil sands process water (OSPW) is recycled to facilitate material transport (e.g.

An Adaptive Environmental Effects Monitoring Framework for Assessing the Influences of Liquid Effluents on Benthos, Water, and Sediments in Aquatic Receiving Environments.

Environmental effects monitoring (EEM) has been traditionally used to evaluate the effects of existing facilities discharging liquid effluents into natural receiving waters in Canada. EEM also has the potential to provide feedback to an ongoing project in an adaptive management context and can inform the design of future projects. EEM, consequently, can and should also be used to test the predictions of effects related to new projects.

Developing and applying control charts to detect changes in water chemistry parameters measured in the Athabasca River near the oil sands: A tool for surveillance monitoring.

Control charting is a simple technique to identify change and is well suited for use in water quality programs. Control charts accounting for covariation associated with discharge and in some cases time were used to explore example and representative variables routinely measured in the Athabasca River near the oil sands area for indications of change. The explored variables include 5 major ions (chloride, sodium, sulfate, calcium, magnesium), 5 total metals (aluminum, iron, thallium, molybdenum, vanadium), and total suspended solids at two sites straddling the developments north of Fort McMurray.

Using normal ranges for interpreting results of monitoring and tiering to guide future work: A case study of increasing polycyclic aromatic compounds in lake sediments from the Cold Lake oil sands (Alberta, Canada) described in Korosi et al. (2016).

Since the publishing of the Kelly et al. papers (2009, 2010) describing elevated contaminants in snow near the Alberta oil sands, there has been a significant expansion of monitoring efforts, enhanced by $50M a year contributed by industry to a regional Joint Oil Sands Monitoring (JOSM) program. In parallel to the intensification of research and monitoring efforts, including expansion of measured indicators, techniques for chemical analysis have also become more sensitive.

Using adaptive processes and adverse outcome pathways to develop meaningful, robust, and actionable environmental monitoring programs.

The primary goals of environmental monitoring are to indicate whether unexpected changes related to development are occurring in the physical, chemical, and biological attributes of ecosystems and to inform meaningful management intervention. Although achieving these objectives is conceptually simple, varying scientific and social challenges often result in their breakdown. Conceptualizing, designing, and operating programs that better delineate monitoring, management, and risk assessment processes supported by hypothesis-driven approaches, strong inference, and adverse outcome pathways can overcome many of the challenges.

Development of an adaptive monitoring framework for long-term programs: An example using indicators of fish health.

Detecting unwanted changes associated with localized human activities in aquatic ecosystems requires defining the value of an indicator expected at a site in the absence of development. Ideally, adequate and comparable baseline data will be collected at an exposure location before that development, but this is rarely done. Instead, comparisons are made using various designs to overcome the inadequate or missing baseline data.

Understanding the chronic impacts of oil refinery wastewater requires consideration of sediment contributions to toxicity.

Previous studies at an oil refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, found a diminished fish community downstream of the effluent outfall that appeared to be associated with periodic low dissolved oxygen concentrations due to episodic discharges of contaminated transport vessel ballast water. This study was initiated after the ballast water was removed from the effluent to further investigate the potential causes of residual effects in the study stream, Little River. We used field caging of fish, laboratory bioassays, and chemical analysis of effluents and sediments from the field site to determine if the effluent or contaminated sediments were affecting the recovery of the fish community in Little River.

USE OF PULSE-AMPLITUDE-MODULATED FLUORESCENCE TO ASSESS THE PHYSIOLOGICAL STATUS OF CLADOPHORA SP. ALONG A WATER QUALITY GRADIENT(1).

This study investigated the application of pulse-amplitude-modulated (PAM) fluorometry as a rapid assessment of benthic macroalgal physiological status. Maximum quantum efficiency (Fv /Fm ), dark-light induction curves, and rapid fluorescence light-response curves (RLC) were measured on the filamentous macroalgal Cladophora sp. from Lake Ontario on 5 d at 16 sites spanning a gradient of light and nutrient supply.