080121-08MN006-Sabina Hackett River Project Proposal ... - NIRB

Description of the Existing Environment6.1.13 Climate and Predicted Future Climate TrendsA meteorological station was installed near Camp Lake in June of 2007. However, given therelatively short period of record of data from this station, regional information is presentedbelow. As more site specific data are collected, understanding of site conditions will improve.Climate data is available from the Lupin Airport station for the past 30 years or so. The generallocation of the Lupin met station is on the northern end of Contwoyto Lake, which is locatedapproximately 130 km west of the Hackett project area. The yearly average temperature atLupin Airport is -11.1 ºC (Environment Canada, 2007a). The warmest month is July with a dailyaverage temperature of 11.5 ºC and a daily maximum temperature of 16.3 ºC. The coldest monthis January with an average daily temperature of -30.4 ºC and an average daily minimumtemperature of -34.0 ºC. Periods with frost-free conditions are short and extend from late-May tolate-September.The mean annual precipitation at Lupin is 333 mm, with 105.4 mm of precipitation falling assnow (Environment Canada, 2007b). Historical records show that snow can occur in any month,and rainfall may occur from April through October. The wettest month of the year is August,receiving an average 55 mm of rain. October receives the most snow with an average snowfallof 38 cm (Environment Canada, 2007b).For future climate trends, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment suggests that net high latitudeprecipitation will increase in proportion with increases in mean hemispheric temperature.Modeling conducted in the same assessment suggests increases in winter and spring runoff,which would increase the probability of extreme flooding (Christensen et al., 2007). It isexpected therefore that in the long term, the frequency and magnitude of flooding wouldincrease, which may lead to increased erosion. Increased temperatures would over time degradepermafrost and release moisture trapped in ice, ice rich soils would settle, and the incidence ofpermafrost-related phenomenon such as thermokarst and solifluction would presumably increase.6.1.14 Noise LevelsThe noise environment in the Project area is pristine. There are no industrial sites or humansettlements close enough to the Project to be audible; consequently, only natural sources such aswind and precipitation will contribute to background noise levels.Measurements of noise levels at similarly remote locations in northern Canada were carried outas part of baseline studies for the diamond projects at Snap Lake (Golder Associates, 2002) andDiavik (Cirrus Consultants, 1998) in the Northwest Territories. At both sites noise levels rangedfrom 25 to 40 dBA with the dominant sound production coming from wind.6.1.15 Other Potential Physical Environment VECsNo other physical environment valued ecosystem components (VECs) were identified incommunity meetings or literature reviews.January 2008 Hackett River Project – Project Proposal Sabina Silver CorporationReport Version B.1 6–27 Rescan Environmental Services Ltd. (Proj. #833-2)