A System-Wide Approach to Monitoring Effects of Hydroelectric Development on the Aquatic Environment in Manitoba, Canada

Hydroelectric development in the Province of Manitoba began 100 years ago with the construction of the Pointe du Bois generating station on the Winnipeg River.  Currently, Manitoba Hydro, a provincial crown corporation, owns and operates 14 generating stations with a total installed capacity of approximately 5000 mega watts.  Over the last several decades, numerous environmental studies and monitoring programs have been conducted across the hydraulic system to meet regulatory requirements and address environmental / community concerns.  More recently the need for a long term system-wide approach to monitoring effects of hydroelectric development on the aquatic environment was identified.  In 2006, the Province of Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and began developing the Coordinated Aquatic Monitoring Program (CAMP) with extensive collaboration from federal/provincial agency scientists, university researchers, and aquatic resource consultants.  The CAMP, currently in its fourth year of monitoring, is the largest aquatic monitoring program in Manitoba and one of the largest in Canada.  It includes sampling at more than 40 waterbodies throughout the province for water quality, benthic invertebrates and the fish community.  A subset of waterbodies also include programs to analyze mercury content in fish tissue and sediment quality.  An important component of CAMP is the inclusion of “off-system” (not hydraulically impacted) waterbodies as reference sites.  Comparison of data collected from on- and off-system sites will allow the partners to more easily identify if observed ecosystem changes are linked to the regulated water regime.  A website is currently being developed to provide information about the program as well as access to basic data.  The partners are preparing the program’s first technical report which draws on data collected during the first three pilot years of CAMP.