A couple of thousand miles from where scientists fear there’s major melt of the Arctic ice cap, is the Mackenzie River basin. It not only holds enormous Canadian national significance but also global importance due to its watershed’s impact on the Arctic Ocean.
Because it has such a vast effect on climate stability and also important things such international migratory birds, a forum was aimed at identifying legal and scientific principles leading to a coordinated basin-wide approach to its management as well a prioritising knowledge gaps.
The Mackenzie is Canada’s longest river – about 1,800 km – and pours a staggering 10.3m litres of water into the Arctic Ocean every second (enough to fill four Olympic swimming pools), along with 100m tons of sediment each year.
Complex challenges confront this immense territory rich in natural assets, which include intact forests, vital habitat for wildlife and for birds that migrate as far as South America, deep stores of trapped carbon, and vast deposits of oil, oil sands, natural gas and minerals.
A 2011 report published by the Gordon Foundation urges the federal government to work with jurisdictions in the basin to implement a world-class water monitoring program and support credible, independent water research.
Thomas S Axworthy, president and ceo of the Toronto-based Gordon Foundation, told the forum: “The starting point of good water policy is knowledge and the starting point of knowledge is to monitor on a regular basis the quality of water in the Mackenzie Basin – for the health of the North, Canada and the world.”
J Owen Saunders, adjunct law professor at the University of Calgary and former executive director of the Canadian Institute of Resources Law, said: “Anything less than a basin-wide program with strict water quality and quantity standards, backed by binding requirements for prior notification and consultation and dispute resolution, will squander an opportunity to finally give the Mackenzie Basin a governance regime that will protect it for future generations.’
Renowned Canadian water scientist, James Bruce, told the forum: “Development activity in British Columbia and Alberta is intensifying adverse impacts of climate change. Agreements must take into account the growing regional impacts of climate change and the need for an adaptive management strategy.”
More information: rosenberg.ucanr.org, gordonfoundation.ca and sfu.ca/act.html