Hydrology And Water Balance Study For The Canadian High Arctic Community Of Grise Fiord Chris Keung*, Ken Johnson*, Arangzeb Alamgir**, Eric Bell*, Bianca Bocancea* *EXP Canada: christopher.keung@exp.com, ken.johnson@exp.com, cryofront@gmail.com ** Government of Nunavut: aalamgir@gov.nu.ca
Context Geographic and Political Context Grise Fiord is Canada’s most northern civilian community. • 1160 km north of the Arctic Circle • 4200 km northwest of Copenhagen • Latitude = 76° • Population of 150 The Inuktitut name is Aujuittuq meaning “the place that never thaws”. In 1953, the forced relocation of eight families from Northern Quebec by the Government of Canada created the community.
Access Context The community is extremely isolated. The sea is frozen for 10 months of the year, so year-round access is by Twin Otter aircraft from Resolute several times a week. Access by ocean is once a year by annual sea lift. October to mid-February is a period of 24-hour darkness, and May to August is 24-hour light.
Methodology Water balance formulation: • Historical climate & precipitation data • Evapotranspiration rates o Sparse data available for High Arctic communities o Literature review for communities above 70°N latitude • Population projections & water consumption rates • Potential climate change impacts o Increase in evapotranspiration & decrease in precipitation o Impacts from permafrost thawing 15 hydrology scenarios were evaluated: • Worst case scenario = minimum precipitation & maximum evapotranspiration
Results Existing Runoff Basin: • Catchment area = 26 hectares • 5 of 15 hydrology scenarios where water source cannot meet community needs Airport River Basin: • Catchment area = 3,414 hectares • 1 of 15 hydrology scenarios where water source cannot meet community needs
Climate Context Grise Fiord has extremely harsh terrain and environmental conditions. The “Polar Desert” environment receives 150 mm of precipitation per year. The watersheds are associated with snowmelt-generated runoff, and 80 to 90 % of melt occurs in a few week period. It is one of the coldest places in the world with an average annual temperature of -16°C.
Considerations & Recommendations Existing source (runoff basin) is vulnerable and susceptible to changes in precipitation and evapotranspiration. To improve the resiliency of the community’s water supply, recommend using Airport River basin as the primary water source. Airport River basin provides a much larger catchment area compared to the existing runoff source (3,414 Ha versus 26 Ha) and contains visible ice fields that may provide additional runoff in the summer.
Water Supply and Storage Context The cost of water in Grise Fiord is 5.0 ¢/L, compared to 0.1 ¢/L. The current water source is melted water from the snowpack which is available for less than 50 days a year. Runoff flows into 2 large heated water storage tanks (4,000,000 Liters each), which store water supply for the entire year. Historical runoff limitations have forced emergency iceberg harvesting to provide enough water for the community over winter. Structural issues with the tanks have forced recent water rationing.
Implementation Activities
2018 supplementary water supply
Methodology Hydrological and Water Balance Study Coarse-resolution analysis to evaluate if the existing or alternative water sources can annually provide sufficient water supply to meet the 20-year water supply needs of the community. Two water sources were evaluated: I. Existing seasonal runoff basin (seasonal snowpack from “glacier”) II. Airport River seasonal runoff basin Watershed delineation using ArcGIS and High-Resolution Digital Elevation Models.
4 to 5 days to transport water sample to lab
Airport River has not been recognized by public health authorities as suitable for potable water supply purposes. Airport River water sampling is required to confirm viability as potable water source and flow measurement is required to confirm the estimated flow rates. Airport River is an ephemeral river and has a very short extraction period, and therefore strategy for the proposed raw water tank refilling operation is very important.
Study Limitations • Results are a high-level screening level assessment of the drinking water supply for the community • Study focused on water quantity and not water quality • Study based on very limited datasets, as well as the unknown quality of some of the datasets • Evapotranspiration characteristics of the watersheds are extremely limited because no field data is available • Impact of permafrost on runoff characteristics not known • Know that permafrost prevents infiltration, but what are future impacts of permafrost thawing?