Development of Water Quality Assessment Approach for Hazard Identification and Communication in First Nations Community Water Systems

The state of drinking water systems and services in First Nation communities is a recognized challenge in Canada. While municipal water systems are regulated by provinces, there is no such parallel regulator for First Nation communities. For First Nations, there are multiple federal agencies that intersect with community decision-making through fragmented processes and guidelines which leads to an unclear accountability framework. The Atlantic First Nations Water Authority (AFNWA) was established in 2018 as a new paradigm of water management for First Nations in Canada. This First Nations owned-and-operated, full-service water utility offers an opportunity to transform water management for participating Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik communities. The AFNWA is partnering with the Centre for Water Resources Studies (CWRS) at Dalhousie University to research the development of sustainable and effective water sampling strategies to inform risk-based management objectives and compliance standards. The findings of this research will be directly applicable to the AFNWA, but widely applicable to any First Nations water system.

Faculty Supervisor:

Ken Oakes;Graham Gagnon

Student:

Partner:

Atlantic First Nations Water Authority Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Utilities

University:

Cape Breton University; Dalhousie University

Program: