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The Cameron Mills is a freshwater-rich region located at the border of Alberta and the Northwest Territories and is the site of a small, remote oil and gas operation. Ecological monitoring data are scarce in the Cameron Hills, and absent prior to the onset of oil and gas development in the 1960s. Consequently, the potential impacts of industrial activities on freshwater ecosystems in the Cameron Hills are unknown. Identifying ecosystem responses to industrial activities is further confounded by the effects of climate change, as this region has undergone substantial wanning since similar to 1900. To address this important knowledge gap, we used an integrated spatial and temporal approach to investigate how climate warming and industrial activities may have altered water quality in the region. Water samples and sediment cores were collected from lakes with varying degrees of catchment disturbance related to oil and gas activities. Comparison of catchment characteristics and modern water chemistry data suggest that catchment disturbance may be increasing dissolved organic carbon (DOC) export to lakes. Additionally, lakes in close proximity to the central battery exhibit lower pH than more distant lakes, which may be due to inputs of organic acids. Changes in diatom assemblages preserved in a dated sediment core from a lake with a disturbed catchment are consistent with modern water chemistry, indicating a trend toward increasing DOC and decreasing pH. Despite evidence of localized impacts related to oil and gas activities, changes in diatom assemblages suggest that regionally climate warming is currently the dominant driver of changes in lakes in the Cameron Hills.