NWT signs water agreement with B.C.
Deal commits both governments to co-operatively manage rivers that flow from B.C. into the NWT
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Monday, October 19, 2015
VANCOUVER
Calling it a historic day, NWT Environment and Natural Resources Minister Michael Miltenberger and his counterpart from B.C. signed a bilateral water management agreement on Oct. 15 in Vancouver.
The deal commits both governments to co-operatively manage rivers that flow from B.C. into the NWT and drain into the Mackenzie River Basin, focusing on the Liard and Petitot watersheds.
The agreement protects ecosystems within the basin as well as the interests of all citizens, including First Nations.
This is the first water management agreement that B.C. has signed under the broader Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Waters Agreement which involved the NWT, Yukon, Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan.
The NWT signed a similar agreement with Alberta last March.
"We share a border. We share links that can't be broken by geography," Miltenberger said at the signing ceremony. "Record-breaking drought that we've never had before, water levels at an all-time low, rain that has stopped coming. These agreements are very critical to us. We've worked very hard to get them done."
The agreement also recognizes each jurisdiction's laws, regulations, plans, policies and economic opportunities, according to a news release issued by the territorial government.
"This agreement ... will allow our two jurisdictions to work co-operatively to manage the shared waters of the Liard and Petitot basins and ensure the health of both our people and the environment for generations to come," Miltenberger said, adding it was important to get this deal done before the dissolution of the 17th assembly which happens on Oct. 26.
The Mackenzie River Basin in the largest in Canada, covering 1.8 million square kilometres.
"In other jurisdictions water issues like ours are solved in the courts or through warfare or some type of other less than friendly approaches that are very adversarial," said Miltenberger. "But in Canada we have the benefit of being able to come to the table and resolve what have been intractable issues in other jurisdictions."
