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canoebase.com:
Wilderness Canoe Tripping
Yukon Territory - North/Black/Liard River Canoe Trip, Water Quality Info
What's the water like that you'll be drinking and paddling on?
Info below as of July, 1997 Except in the shallows (15 ft, 5 meters, or less), we could not see the bottom of North Lake, or that of some of the pond just below it. Beaver, caribou, bear, and moose activity all around (Giardia hazard). Men were working on the land around the lake (exploratory mine drilling), presumably there were outhouses. The site we saw was a minimum of two km from the lake (how close to feeder streams?). This activity is exploratory only, so far, no processing wastes or runnoff to worry about yet. If a mine is developed, it will bring a road into the area, probably from the Robert Campbell Highway to the north or northeast. My own opinion is that a bigger factor than the mining problem (so far) is the hunters, fishermen, and other recreationists (like us canoeists) that also use these lakes. No convenient outhouses means some outdoorspersons will not be careful as to body waste disposal. Again, this will get worse if a road is pushed through to either North or Fire Lake. I would advise you to filter or otherwise treat your drinking water everywhere in the river system. Even with the motor boats and planes being used by the mining company, gas and oil in the water is not a problem yet. A road could make it so. There was a large diesel generator running at the mining camp, a fuel spill could seep into Fire Lake. Water in the North River flowing into North Lake, as well as out of it, was very clear. A little bit of suspended matter (organic and sand/dirt?) could be seen in the water in slower river sections. There were beaver workings all along the whole river system. Suspended matter increased noticeably in the braids section below the falls, and even more after reaching the Black River. There is lots of beaver activity in the braids, as well as in swampy areas above it. Clearer water again in the Black River below Black Lake, though there was still some particulate matter in it. There are presumably outhouses at the mining bush camp on Fire Lake (the complex is built on the alluvial fan of a small creek), but we couldn't see the toilets from the water as we paddled by (that's good). There was a small sauna structure very close to the lake shore. There were at least two outhouses at the vacation cabin complex at the south end of Fire Lake that could be seen from the water, though both were a sufficient distance from the shore. There was an outhouse at Jim Botti's cabin on Black Lake, again a good distance from the water. I'm sure this one is not used much. There didn't seem to be any glacial silt in the North River, but the Liard has plenty. At least the upper Liard does clear up significantly as the season progresses. The silt load up there was noticeably less when we reached it by canoe compared to when we flew over it on the way to our put-in on North Lake a week earlier. We could see bottom easily in most places on the Liard immediately below the Black River confluence, while canoeing, but it was very milky looking when we flew. The Black was very clear when compared to the Liard there. More silt and particulate matter in the Liard is evident the farther you progress downstream. A silt-rich bank muddies the water noticeably just below Sambo Creek. There are several cabins along the Liard, and a few what look like hunting camps. Some of each are quite close to the edge of the river. Most are on high cliff banks, often 50-100 feet (15-30 meters) above the river. We did not see any outhouses, though I'm sure they are present at most cabins. We saw one motor boat on the Liard, which came down the Meister River, probably from a cabin up that river. Some or many of the cabins on the Liard upstream of the Meister might also be accessed by motor boat in the spring and summer. The water was certainly deep enough when we were there in early to mid-July. We noticed some tree cutting and bulldozer activity at a couple places along the Liard not far below the Black confluence. This is presumably road cutting activity for (future?) water access, both coming from the road along the southwest. There were no actual roads to the water evident yet, though there is also a road along the northeast bank for a short ways, which continues as a winter snowmobile track on up past the mouth of the Black River. Neither road travels close to the Liard River for much distance.
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