YELLOWKNIFE (March 19, 2014) – Canada Water Week is a week-long celebration of water from coast-to-coast-to-coast, held annually in the third week of March to coincide with World Water Day on March 22.

“Canada Water Week is an excellent way to celebrate and learn about our watersheds in the NWT and across Canada,” said Minister of Environment and Natural Resources J. Michael Miltenberger. “Not only does it promote learning about the importance of protecting our water and aquatic ecosystems, it encourages us to work together to protect and sustain our water and aquatic ecosystems.”

The theme for this year’s Water Week 2014 is Watersheds 101. Canada is home to five main watersheds with the largest being the Arctic watershed. Within the Arctic watershed is the Mackenzie River Basin, Canada’s largest river basin covering 1.8 million square kilometres and draining about 20 percent of Canada’s landmass. The Mackenzie River Basin reaches all the way from the Columbia Ice-Fields in Alberta’s Jasper National Park to the Arctic Ocean.

The Government of the Northwest Territories and Ecology North have organized water stewardship activities across the NWT. For a complete list of events held across the Northwest Territories, visit canadawaterweek.com or nwtwaterstewardship.ca.

For more information, contact:

Judy McLinton
Manager Public Affairs and Communications
Tel: (867) 873-7379
Email: judy_mclinton@gov.nt.ca