Nujo’tme’k Samqwan: Source water protection and wastewater surveillance

This collaboration between the Atlantic First Nations Water Authority, the first Indigenous-owned and operated water utility in Canada and the Centre for Water Resources Studies (CWRS) at Dalhousie University will help First Nations identify and advance community priorities at the intersection of water stewardship and health.

The AFNWA represents a path toward self-determination in the application of First Nation values and governance to critical services for their people, providing water and wastewater services to 13 participating First Nations across the Wabanaki Territory in the Atlantic region.

Together, the CWRS and AFNWA will work with participating First Nations to identify research priorities related to water stewardship with a focus on monitoring freshwater for eDNA/RNA to manage microbial water safety. The CWRS and AFNWA will undertake the following tasks:

• Source water protection and wastewater eDNA/RNA monitoring objectives will be identified by each First Nation through mawio’mi (gatherings).
• A Samqwan/Samaqan (water) Genomics Symposium will be held to understand and advance priorities across First Nations organizations whose work may be informed by water genomics.
• eDNA/RNA will be used to monitor for microbial characteristics in groundwater and surface water systems in participating First Nations using cutting edge technology, including qPCR and NGS, to monitor for viruses and bacteria of interest to each Nation. These tools will be used to detect emerging microbial communities to understand microbial safety in these water systems.
• Most importantly, this project will allow First Nations-led knowledge gathering and knowledge sharing, guided by information management grounded in Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession (OCAP) Principles, with a focus on how to share stories about microbial water safety through Two-Eyed Seeing.