ECONOMY, ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Commitment 1.3.6 – We will negotiate with Yukon, Nunavut, and Saskatchewan towards the completion of transboundary water agreements.

The Northwest Territories (NWT) is the ultimate downstream jurisdiction in the Mackenzie River Basin. NWT waters can be impacted by management decisions in the upper basin, which includes parts of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Yukon.

The negotiation and implementation of bilateral water management agreements (bilateral agreements) with upstream jurisdictions is necessary to ensure we can achieve our vision that the waters of the NWT remain clean, abundant and productive for all time. Northern Voices, Northern Waters: NWT Water Stewardship Strategy (the Water Strategy), released in May 2010, was developed with extensive input from Indigenous Governments and Organizations, stakeholders, and the public, and considers diverse environmental, cultural, social and economic interests. The Water Strategy helps to guide future water-related management actions in the NWT, including transboundary water discussions and negotiations and includes the Water Strategy's visions, goals and 'keys to success'.

In 1997, the Governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Yukon, the NWT and Canada signed the Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Waters Master Agreement (the Master Agreement). This agreement commits all six governments to work towards cooperatively managing the water and aquatic ecosystems of the entire Mackenzie River Basin and made provisions for the parties to develop bilateral water management agreements (milestones 2 and 3).

In 2010, Northern Voices, Northern Waters: The NWT Water Stewardship Strategy was released. A purpose of the Strategy is to inform and advance transboundary discussions, agreements and obligations.

In March 2015, the NWT-Alberta Mackenzie River Basin Bilateral Water Management Agreement was signed by the Government of Alberta and the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT). Subsequently, the Government of British Columbia and the Government of the Northwest Territories (NWT) signed the NWT-British Columbia Mackenzie River Basin Bilateral Water Management Agreement in October 2015.

Active negotiations to update the existing 2002 Yukon (YT)-NWT Transboundary Water Management Agreement began in the fall of 2017 and will continue into 2018.

ENR anticipates ongoing discussions towards establishing a Saskatchewan (SK)-NWT agreement will resume in winter 2018 and negotiation of an NWT-Nunavut (NU) Transboundary Water Management Agreement will occur once NU has completed their territorial water strategy.

Information about NWT's Transboundary Water Management Agreements, including those with Alberta and British Columbia can be found at http://www.nwtwaterstewardship.ca/transboundary

Related Mandate Commitments:

• Commitment 1.3.1 - Using the Land Use and Sustainability Framework to be clear and transparent, we will: Finalize and implement the Water Stewardship Strategy Action Plan.