Title
Columbia Basin Aquatic Contaminants Project
Fiscal Year
2003-2004
Community/Region
Ktunuxa-Kinbasket (Shuswap, Columbia Lake, St. Mary’s, Tobacco Plains, and Lower Kootenay Indian Bands), the Canadian Columbia Inter-tribal Fisheries Commission, British Columbia
Principal Investigator
Chris Beers, Canadian Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fisheries Commission
Community Project Lead
N/A
Project Members
N/A

Project Summary
The headwaters of the Columbia River support many species that are vital to the health and wellbeing of First Nation communities. However, both the Akisq’nuk First Nation and the Shuswap Band have expressed concerns about the quality of water in the upper Columbia River and its potential impacts on the fish they harvest.
Water quality was measured at two sites along the upper Columbia River, one at Radium and another at Donald. The concentrations of contaminants in water samples were compared to historical levels as well as to provincial and federal guidelines for the protection of freshwater aquatic life. The water quality parameters tested were turbidity, total suspended solids, aluminum, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, and lead. In addition, fish tissue was sampled and analysed for metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
The study identified a few water samples that exceeded provincial and federal guidelines, especially with respect to turbidity, total suspended solids and aluminum. The elevated turbidity and total suspended solids in those water samples, however, likely reflected natural background levels in the river associated with high flows (summer 2003 and spring 2004). The elevated aluminum levels that were detected could have occurred as a result of natural or anthropogenic sources, but were similar to or lower than historical levels. The researchers suggested that the few exceedances in the concentrations of cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper and lead in water samples could have represented false positives since their levels were close to the method detection limit. Samples of burbot collected at Windermere Lake had detectable levels of arsenic, copper, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, selenium and strontium, but these levels did not represent a health concern according to available guidelines. Mercury levels in fish were below British Columbia’s maximum criterion of 0.5 ug/g. It was recommended that an additional year or two of sampling would allow stronger conclusions to be drawn about the quality of the water. In addition, further sampling of fish for methylmercury would increase knowledge about the relative risks and benefits associated with consuming fish from the upper Columbia River.