An analysis of benthic invertebrate and water quality monitoring data from the Athabasca River

• Main Authors: Mayhood, D. W., Walder, G. L.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: 1985
• Subjects: geo; envir; Athabasca River; Fort McMurray; Horse River; Tar River
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.7939/R3TM72259; https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/a3523e7e-b3e0-4a03-9eda-4594ae4de1ef

As a result of industrial development in the Athabasca oil sands area of northeastern Alberta, concerns have been raised regarding potential impacts on surface water quality in the area. It is of particular concern that the cumulative effects of increasing development of the oil sands may create hydrocarbon and metal pollution problems in the Athabasca River. With the aims of evaluating baseline water quality conditions and identifying areas that may have been affected by existing industrial developments, water quality of the Athabasca River within the oil sands area has been monitored since 1976. In addition, several studies of benthic invertebrate communities have been conducted and these provided primarily descriptive information. This report presents a detailed statistical analysis of water quality and benthic invertebrate data from previous studies on the Athabasca River. Benthic invertebrate data were from a study conducted in 1981 on the Athabasca River between Fort McMurray and the Tar River confluence. Water quality data for the same area were obtained from the NAQUADAT water quality data base for the period 1976 to 1983. The study area includes a 75 km section of the Athabasca River extending from the confluence with the Horse River upstream of Fort McMurray, downstream to the confluence with the Tar River, approximately 40 km downstream from the Suncor extraction and upgrading plant. Six water quality monitoring stations and eight benthic invertebrate sampling stations were located within the study area. The relationships among various water quality parameters were examined using the methods of principal component analysis. Principal components were also used to describe associations of benthic invertebrate taxa and for transformation of abundance data prior to making statistical comparisons among sampling stations. The relationships between water quality and benthic invertebrates were examined by determining the correlations of benthic invertebrate principal components with water quality principal ...