Protecting the Mackenzie River Basin
Transboundary agreements, stewardship strategy help protect waterway
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Catherine Lafferty remembers the surprise she felt last summer as she watched someone stick their hand out of a boat on Blachford Lake and take a giant gulp of water.
Jennifer Fresque-Baxter, manager of watershed programs and partnership for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, speaks at an Ecology North event on water agreements on March 23. - Kirsten Fenn/NNSL photo |
"I was worried that it wasn't safe," said the Yellowknives Dene First Nation councillor at a March 23 Ecology North event on the importance of protecting waterways amid climate change.
"But they laughed and said it was the freshest, cleanest water in the world."
The Northwest Territories is home to the largest river system in Canada, with the Mackenzie River Basin making up 1.8 million square kilometres and nearly 20 per cent of Canada's land mass.
According to Jennifer Fresque-Baxter, manager of watershed programs and partnership for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the river contributes about 60 per cent of fresh-water discharge across Canada and to the Arctic Ocean.
That's why officials in the territory are working to keep the natural resource in pristine condition.
The decisions we make today have an impact on ensuring future generations have clean water for years to come, Fresque-Baxter said.
One way the GNWT manages water resources and works to advance water security is through a water stewardship strategy.
It provides a vision for how to keep NWT water "clean, abundant and productive for all time," Fresque-Baxter said, and includes the input of aboriginal peoples, territorial and municipal governments, and other partners when released in 2010.
Transboundary water agreements with territorial and provincial neighbours also work to protect the NWT's water systems.
Meghan Beveridge, manager of transboundary waters for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said the GNWT has heard concerns from residents about how activity in other jurisdictions could affect water flowing into the NWT. Having agreements in place helps guide co-operation over water resources.
But there is still a long way to go, said Lafferty, citing low water levels, arsenic and reports of invasive species as examples of things to be concerned about.
"We especially cannot forget the many aboriginal communities in Canada left without clean drinking water today," she said.
As part of her job working on transboundary water agreements with Alberta and B.C. in the past, Lafferty ensured aboriginal people fully understood the agreements and that their concerns were expressed.
"This was not an easy task because a lot of the terminology of the agreement is technical and to translate those words into an official NWT language was a tough task," she said.
But Lafferty said she believes the worlds of science and traditional knowledge must come together now more than ever.
"Scientists that are working on transboundary agreements need to listen and apply the knowledge of aboriginal people, because we were living off the land for thousands of years," she said, adding they have kept it pristine and healthy.
"Aboriginal people of the North need to be placed in the lead on this at all times – from start to finish," said Lafferty.
