17. Stewardship - Planning and Adapting

Le rapport sur l’état de l’environnement 2022 est un document technique destiné à un usage interne. Il n’est disponible qu’en anglais.

Introduction
17.1. Status of Transboundary Water Agreements
17.2 Status of Implementation of the Water Stewardship Strategy
17.3. Status of planning and implementation of species at risk recovery actions
17.4. Status of implementation of the NWT Climate Change Strategic Framework

Introduction

Installing automated recording devices and field cameras in the NWT are ways that we keep track of environmental change and inform our planning and adaptation initiatives. © GNWT

This final section identifies stewardship actions that may reduce the impact of driving forces and pressures and improve or maintain the state of our environment.

Planning and adapting our actions are important first steps in effective stewardship programs. In this focal point, we track how our planning and adaptation efforts are implemented, through our Transboundary Water Agreements, Water Stewardship Strategy and Action Plan, Species at Risk Recovery Strategies and Climate Change Strategic Framework and Action Plan. Additional planning and adaptation programs will be tracked in future report, if applicable.

17.1. Status of Transboundary Water Agreements

In 1997, the jurisdictions of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Yukon Territory, the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) and Government of Canada signed the Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Waters Master Agreement (Master Agreement) which committed each part to collaborate together to maintain the ecological integrity of the entire Mackenzie River Basin and to negotiate Bilateral Water Management Agreements (Bilateral Agreements). The Northwest Territories (NWT) is the downstream jurisdiction in the Mackenzie River Basin and as such is impacted by upstream management decisions. However, the NWT plays a key role to ensure upstream water protection in water basins that are shared with Nunavut.

The negotiation and implementation of the NWT’s Bilateral Agreements is important to ensure we can achieve the vision of Northern Voices, Northern Waters: NWT Water Stewardship Strategy and that the waters of the NWT remain clean, abundant and productive for all time. Bilateral Agreements are an important way to protect waters flowing across boundaries and establish common understanding and expectations for those sharing that water. Effectiveness of these agreements can be determined by assessing how information is being shared and the state and trend of water, including quantity, quality and biology, flowing into the NWT.

This indicator provides information on the status of negotiation and implementation of the NWT bilateral agreements with neighbouring jurisdictions.

This indicator was prepared by the Government of the Northwest Territories, Department of Environment and Climate Change using internal information.

Alexandra Falls, Don Wilson

NWT Focus

The GNWT is implementing agreements with Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon. The Yukon-NWT Bilateral Agreement, originally signed in 2002, has involved regular meetings and ongoing water quality and quantity monitoring of the Peel River. It is currently being updated to align with the newer Bilateral Agreements. The GNWT is currently negotiating a similar agreement with Saskatchewan. The GNWT has reached out to Nunavut to begin negotiations but formal negotiations have not yet begun. These Bilateral Agreements create a framework for cooperation and informed decision making with the objective to maintain the health of the aquatic ecosystem, which includes water quality, water quantity, groundwater, and aquatic life (the biological component).

The Bilateral Agreements commit jurisdictions to share information about current and proposed developments and consult each other if there are concerns. The Bilateral Agreement with Alberta, for instance, sets out triggers which are designed to identify potential changes in water quality and quantity. Further, the Alberta-NWT Bilateral Agreement has established monitoring plans for aquatic insects and fish so that biological indicators can be used to assess ecosystem health. Management actions are set based on risk, and jurisdictions are obliged to take specific actions to meet the goal of protecting ecosystem health. Water quality, quantity, and biological indicators are monitored near the border and information from regional and basin level monitoring is regularly assessed.

The Bilateral Agreements contain a commitment to annually report on implementation progress, including monitoring activities and results. Together, the jurisdictions review and analyze the monitoring data frequently and discuss the results together. Under the Alberta-NWT Bilateral Agreement, we have released four annual reports since signing the agreement (for years 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-2020). Annual reports are available to the public on the ECC website at https://www.ecc.gov.nt.ca/en/services/water-management-and-monitoring/alberta-nwt-transboundary-water-agreement.

The NWT actively monitors conditions on key rivers that cross our borders to assess conditions and ensure BWMA commitments are being maintained. As the downstream jurisdiction, upstream activities (e.g., the Oil Sands (Alberta) and Bennett Dam (British Columbia) have the potential to impact water quality, quantity and biology in the NWT. Under each Bilateral Agreement, a Bilateral Management Committee (BMC) is established to bring forward input and interests from the public and Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations, to facilitate joint implementation and to provide a forum for collaboration. Each BMC includes an Indigenous Member from each jurisdiction to ensure Indigenous interests are represented in BMC decision making. In the NWT, the Indigenous Member is nominated by the Indigenous Steering Committee which was established to guide the development and implementation of water stewardship activities as part of Northern Voices, Northern Waters: NWT Water Stewardship Strategy. The Indigenous Steering Committee also nominates the NWT Indigenous member to the Mackenzie River Basin Board.

The Mackenzie River Basin Board was established by Master Agreement in 1997. The Board provides a forum for collaboration across the Mackenzie River Basin and has members from each of the provincial, territorial and federal governments as well as Indigenous members from each of the provinces and territories. A Traditional Knowledge and Strengthening Partnership Committee, a Science Committee, and specific task teams support the work of the Board. These committees are able to tackle basin-wide topics (such as developing consensus-based approaches to water quality data analysis and objective setting) that help implement the Bilateral Agreements in the basin.

Mackenzie River Basin. Source: Mackenzie River Basin Board

Current View: status and trend

Bilateral Agreements contain a series of management actions for shared waters, including monitoring, learning plans and setting transboundary water objectives. For example, the Alberta-NWT Bilateral Agreement has established a series of triggers to assess transboundary waters and proactively address negative trends in water quality and quantity for the Slave and Hay rivers. These triggers are set at a level to provide an early warning system of change. Alberta and the NWT use data from upstream sites in Northern Alberta to help explain downstream conditions at the border.

Bilateral Agreements use a risk informed management approach to classify shared waters. Depending on the level of risk, traditional use, cultural importance and concern about upstream development, the shared waterways can be classified as 1, 2, 3 or 4. Class 1 waters only require the level of monitoring already being undertaken. Class 2 water bodies require Learning Plans to better understand the history, current and potential future of water quality, quantity and health of the overall aquatic ecosystem. Class 3 water bodies are considered at a higher risk and interest and support greater traditional use. In addition to Learning Plans, Class 3 waters require the development and monitoring of site-specific objectives. Class 4 is only assigned if objectives for a body of water are not being met, and corrective action is immediately needed.

The Alberta-NWT Bilateral Agreement is the only agreement with class 3 water bodies – the Slave and Hay rivers – and therefore requires triggers and objectives be set, Under the British Columbia-NWT Bilateral Agreement, the Liard and Petitot rivers are class 2 for surface and groundwater quality and therefore could have triggers and do require learning plans which are currently under development.

All Mackenzie River Basin Bilateral Agreements are designed to maintain the ecological integrity of the aquatic ecosystem so that all uses, including traditional use, are protected. Indigenous and local knowledge as well as science are all used to support decision-making on transboundary waters. Results of monitoring and implementation activities are reported publicly through annual reports. For example, as part of these annual reports, current conditions on the Slave and Hay rivers are compared to values that have been calculated from historical data. These triggers are called site-specific water quality triggers because they reflect the site-specific conditions of each river. Comparing the data to these triggers indicates if levels of a particular substance are changing or if levels are higher than what is expected.

An example of one result included in annual reports is that concentrations of dissolved magnesium [1] in the Slave River, have exceeded the trigger since 2015, exhibiting an increasing trend over time (Figure 1; p<0.0001; n=274). Why? To answer this question, we can look at data from upstream monitoring sites on the Peace and Athabasca Rivers. A similar trend was found for dissolved magnesium in the Peace River, but not in the Athabasca. Given that the Peace River contributes almost 80% of the water to the Slave River, it is likely that the changes in the Slave River are being driven by changes in the Peace River. In 2022, we plan to investigate the reasons for this change in the Peace River by assessing local land use changes and potential climate change signals in the region.

Figure 1. Levels of dissolved magnesium in the Slave River (at Fort Fitzgerald) between 1978 and 2019. A CCME aquatic life guideline for dissolved magnesium does not exist. Source: ECC, GNWT

[1] Magnesium is a natural constituent of surface water. The concentration of magnesium in water can be affected by natural processes, like runoff or increased weathering of rock, and by human activity, like land clearing.

Transboundary agreements are proving to be effective tools to address transboundary concerns related to water management.

Looking around

Unlike transboundary agreements in other parts of Canada, which only focus on water quality or apportioning water, the Mackenzie River Basin transboundary water management agreements include both, as well as overall aquatic health. The agreements are inclusive of Indigenous knowledge, monitor the biology of shared waters, and surface water and groundwater quality and quantity. Commitments in the agreements include monitoring, creating learning plans and setting triggers and objectives, making the agreements one of the most comprehensive of their kind.

Looking forward

Transboundary water agreements are important for assessing and protecting the waters flowing into and out of the NWT. The GNWT will continue advancing negotiations to complete transboundary agreements with its neighbours, including Saskatchewan and Nunavut. As well, the GNWT will continue working with its neighbours to implement existing agreements.

Find out more

For more information about the Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Waters Master Agreement visit the Mackenzie River Basin Board website:

https://www.mrbb.ca/?msclkid=e70606bace7911ecb703d34092e3adb3

For more information on the transboundary agreement with Alberta visit: https://www.ecc.gov.nt.ca/en/services/water-management-and-monitoring/alberta-nwt-transboundary-water-agreement.

For more information on the transboundary agreement with British Columbia visit: https://www.ecc.gov.nt.ca/en/services/water-management-and-monitoring/bc-nwt-transboundary-water-agreement.

Technical reports to support transboundary agreement implementation are available to the public on the ECC website at https://www.ecc.gov.nt.ca/en/services/water-management-and-monitoring/transboundary-water-agreement-implementation.

17.2 Status of Implementation of the Water Stewardship Strategy

This indicator provides information about the implementation status of Northern Voices, Northern Waters: NWT Water Stewardship Strategy (Water Strategy) (Ref. 1). The Water Strategy is a made-in-the-North strategy developed collaboratively by water partners in the NWT.

Since the Water Strategy was first released in 2010, water partners have developed three five-year Action Plans (2011-2015, 2016-2020, and 2021-2025) (Ref. 2, 3, 4).

The Water Strategy and Action Plans establish a collaborative, partnership-based approach to enhance and promote water stewardship in the NWT at all levels. The Action Plans have Keys to Success that are organized under the four components of the Water Strategy: Work Together, Know and Plan, Use Responsibly, and Check Our Progress. Each Key to Success has a set of Action Items that include lead and supporting water partners and deliverable dates. Under the Check Our Progress component, lead and supporting water partners have committed to reporting their progress in a variety of ways including annual surveys, participation in the annual Water Strategy Implementation Workshops, and participation in the annual progress review.

The 2016-2020 and 2021-2025 Action Plans identified performance indicators to track the effectiveness of implementation. The 2016-2020 Action Plan included 147 Action Items and 54 Performance Indicators to measure Water Strategy implementation progress. The performance indicators are tracked annually and reported in the annual progress review summary report and comprehensive spreadsheet.

Independent evaluations of the Water Strategy are also undertaken every five years to determine progress and address challenges by outlining recommendations for subsequent Action Plans. An independent evaluation of the 2016-2020 Action Plan (Ref. 5) was completed in September 2020 and informed the development of the five-year Action Plan for 2021-2025.

This indicator was prepared by the Government of the Northwest Territories, Department of Environment and Climate Change using internal information.