| Abstract/Description or Keywords |
Surface water hydrology is a key component of the physical and biological environment because it is linked to other ecosystem components, including surface water quality, fish and fish habitat, and aquatic resources. The proposed Brucejack Gold Mine Project (the Project) could affect surface water hydrology by altering streamflows, channel morphology, and glaciers. Such effects may occur during the Construction, Operation, Closure, and Post-closure phases. The terms “surface water hydrology” and “surface water quantity” are interchangeably used in this Application for an Environmental Assessment Certificate/Environmental Impact Statement. In this chapter: o baseline hydrologic conditions within the local and regional study areas are characterized; o potential effects of the Project on surface water hydrology are identified; o mitigation measures for such effects are introduced; o residual effects of the Project on surface water hydrology, after implementation of mitigation measures, are predicted; and o cumulative effects of the Project and other past, present, and foreseeable future projects on surface water hydrology are assessed. Detailed data and analyses to support the abovementioned assessment are presented in appendices of this chapter. These include: o Appendix 10-A, 2012 Surface Water Hydrology Baseline Report — this report estimates key hydrologic indices that characterize the hydrologic regime within the Project area; o Appendix 10-B, Potential Interactions between the Brucejack Gold Mine Project and Channel Morphology: Preliminary Results — results of a preliminary study to assess the potential effects of the Project on channel morphology are presented in this appendix; and o Appendix 10-C, Potential Interactions between the Glacier Section of Brucejack Access Road and Knipple Glacier Ablation — this appendix Provides estimated effects of the Project on the glaciohydrology of the Knipple Glacier. |
