The Athabasca Watershed Council’s five-year biomonitoring project started in May 2020. This project aims to monitor benthic invertebrate communities, basic water quality, and habitat in the Upper Athabasca River Watershed. We use the Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (CABIN) sampling protocols followed by taxonomic analysis, and for two years combined that with the Sequencing the Rivers for Environmental Assessment and Monitoring (STREAM) eDNA metabarcoding analysis.
CABIN is a national biomonitoring program by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to assess freshwater ecosystems; primarily stream and river habitats. It was developed to provide a standardized sampling protocol and a recommended assessment for determining aquatic ecosystem conditions. CABIN training provides the tools necessary for users to conduct consistent comparable and scientifically credible assessments of streams. Results provide rationale to direct policy and planning efforts. It is the most widely used protocol in Canada applied by federal, provincial, and municipal governments, community groups, and industry. The STREAM project uses eDNA metabarcoding to analyze benthic samples collected by community-based water monitors faster, cheaper and more accurately. To learn more about CABIN, check out THIS RESOURCE from fRI.
Please find the factsheet about the project.
Please contact SCIENCE@AWC-WPAC.CA or call (780) 213-4550 for additional information.
5101 50 Avenue, PO Box 1058,
Athabasca, AB
