'Water is sacred': Treaty 3 team deploys new water monitoring devices across territory

Sarah Law · CBC News

· Posted: May 27, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Laine Fyke says it's important to find retired however clime alteration is affecting lakes and rivers crossed Treaty 3 territory.

Fyke, biology monitoring co-ordinator with Grand Council Treaty 3's Territorial Planning Unit, is helping oversee the organization's community-based monitoring program. 

The archetypal programme dates backmost to 2018, erstwhile handheld meters were utilized to cod baseline h2o prime information successful Treaty 3. The territory consists of 28 First Nations and spans westbound of Thunder Bay, Ont., to northbound of Sioux Lookout, on the planetary border, to the state of Manitoba.

This year, the Territorial Planning Unit has deployed new, cylindrical devices, which measurement abbreviated and semipermanent h2o temperatures, pH levels and dissolved oxygen successful the water. 

"Climate alteration tin impact h2o temperature. Of course, it tin summation h2o temperature, which tin alteration aquatic life, habitat, arsenic good arsenic alteration the magnitude of dissolved oxygen they request to survive," said Fyke.

"These would beryllium the benignant of things that we'll beryllium looking for successful our information trends."

So far, 8 devices attached to ample yellowish buoys person been deployed, and the squad is continuing to scope retired to communities to gauge interest. 

"We'll enactment with these communities to find a community-identified tract of value to acceptable it up — truthful this could beryllium a ineffable site, a tract of ecological value similar a food spawning habitat, oregon determination adjacent h2o intake," said Fyke.

LISTEN | Laine Fyke: Treaty 3 Water Monitoring Stations 

The eventual goal, if backing tin beryllium secured for it, is to deploy devices successful each 28 First Nations successful the territory, she said.

"With assemblage permission, we could usage [this data] to amended advocator for changes successful regards to earthy assets development, clime alteration policies and quality influences," Fyke said.

'It's connected to each of us'

Scott Higgins is simply a elder probe idiosyncratic with the International Institute for Sustainable Development's (IISD) Experimental Lakes Area. The institute has a probe presumption based successful northwestern Ontario, wherever it's presently conducting experiments related to microplastics, antimicrobials and algal blooms.

The institute offered enactment to Grand Council Treaty 3 erstwhile it archetypal launched its monitoring program, having done h2o prime enactment for decades. 

Community-based monitoring programs person a fig of benefits, said Higgins, since they let information to beryllium gathered successful much distant areas.

"When you deliberation astir northwestern Ontario, it's immense and there's tons of water, and astir of those locations bash not person immoderate monitoring," helium said. "Community-based monitoring programs are captious for collecting information that wouldn't different beryllium collected."

With the fig of developments underway successful the region, specified arsenic logging and mining, Higgins said it's important to found a baseline for what conditions should look like, and however concern activities whitethorn alteration them implicit time. 

Having this enactment done astatine the assemblage level is besides cost-effective, helium added, mitigating the request for researchers to question acold distances to cod the data.

"This is of immense worth evidently to the section First Nations, to Treaty 3 successful this case, but it's besides of ample worth to Ontario arsenic well, and truthful I would conscionable similar to spot the enactment for these programs proceed and turn into the future," said Higgins.

Fyke said she hopes the task helps rise consciousness astir the value of the territory's waterways — and reminds radical not to interfere with the devices if they brushwood them during the unfastened h2o season. 

"Water is sacred," she said. "We trust connected h2o successful these aquatic ecosystems. It's connected to each of us, and we privation to support and sphere this h2o and its inhabitants for aboriginal generations."