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EnvironmentWater2TuesdayFebruary262013NEWSBRIEFSTwomendieinfatalHighway3crashTwosemi-trailerscollidedlastTuesdayonHighway3nearFortProvidencekillingGrantAmbler60ofGwynneAlta.andLeroyConner66ofGroveOkla-homa.Amblerwasthedriverofthesouthboundsemi-trailerandConnerwasinthesleeperofthenorthboundsemi.Highway3wasclosedfor48hours.Theinvesti-gationcontinues.AttemptedmurderinDelineA38year-oldmanhasbeenchargedwithattemptedmur-derafterDelineRCMPrespondedtoacallandfounda44year-oldmanwithmultipleinjuriesonFeb.1.GaryBeyonniehasbeenchargedwithattemptedmurderandaggravatedassault.BeyonniewastakentotheDoraGullyMedicalClinicandthenmedevacedtoStantonTerritorialHospitalinYellowknife.Heisstillrecoveringinhospital.Theinvestigationcontinues.AnyonewithinformationisaskedtocallDelineRCMPat589-1111orCrimeStoppersat1-800-222-8477.CrackcocainebustinYellowknifeNinepeoplehavebeenarrestedafterRCMPraidedaYellowknifemotellastWednesdayanddiscoveredcrackcocainemoneyanddrugparaphernalia.Allofthemhavenowbeenreleasedfromcustody.Accoordingtopolicethosearrestedweresuspectsinthedistributionofcrackcocaineinthecity.Theinvestigationisongoing.Checkthenext4editionsoftheNorthernJournaltoseeourAboriginalLanguageMonthbanner.BringyouranswerintotheNorthernJournal.TanisiHelloSponsoredbyTheNWTMtisNationDidyouknowthatMarchisByMEAGANWOHLBERGSixteenyearsafterpartiesrstsignedontoamasteragreementfortheMackenzieRiverBasintwoborder-shar-ingjurisdictionsarenallyontheirwaytoreleasingatrans-boundarywateragreementwithinthenextfewmonths.NegotiatingteamsfortheNorthwestTerritoriesandAl-bertaarequicklynearingtheconclusionoftalksthatbeganin2007withthesigningofarstmemorandumofunder-standing.Adraftisexpectedtobedonebylatespringwithabilateralagreementnalizedbytheendoftheyear.Aboriginalleadersandcommunitiesacrosstheter-ritorywereconsultedontheinterestsbeingrepresentedinthedraftagreementtoen-surethenaldocumentade-quatelyrepresentsthetruein-terestsoftheNorthincludingbothscienceandtraditionalknowledge.Weworkedthroughout2012oninterestswestartedtohavetheconversationaboutoptionsnowweretalkingaboutreningoptionsandbythesummerof2013wellhaveadraftagreementthatwecanconsultfurtheronErinKellytechnicaladvisorfortheNWTnegotiatingteamtoldmembersofthepublicinFortSmithonThursdayeveningduringameetingtoupdatethecommunityonthestatusofnegotiationsandcommu-nity-basedwatermonitoring.KellysaidbothAlbertaandtheNWThavereachedagreementoncertainpiecesofthedealwhichinsistthattheagreementmustsupporthealthyecosystemsrespectAboriginalandtreatyrightsbeadaptabletochangeoverthelong-termandhelptheNWTstayinformedaboutupstreamdevelopmentbeforeithappens.WhattheagreementwillnotdoKellysaidisstopde-velopmentoutright.Thiswillnotstoptheoil-sandsitwillnotstopthepro-posedSiteCdamshesaid.ThisagreementspurposeisnottostopdevelopmentinAlberta.ItstolookatthehealthofthewatersthatcrosstheNWT-AlbertaborderandtheMackenzieRiverBasinasawhole.Shesaidthethreecompo-nentsoftheagreementwillin-cludemeasuresforprotectingtheriverbasinmonitor-ingeffortsandgovernmentdecision-making.ThekeytoprotectionasitrelatestolanguagecontainedinAboriginallandclaimsisthatwatersintheNWTmustremainsubstantiallyunal-teredbyactivityinAlbertaKellysaid.Thatmeanskeep-ingshanimalsandpeoplesafemonitoringthelevelsandowsofwatermakingsurepollutantsintheairdontgetinthewateranddevelopingwaterqualitynumbersthataresite-specicforindividualNorthernrivers.Partoftheagreementwilllikelyalsoincludeacommit-menttolearningmoreaboutgroundwaterandtheeffectsofclimatechangeonthingslikepermafrost.UnderthemanagementmodelKellysaidthetwopar-tiesarecurrentlydiscussinghavingtransboundarywa-tersputintofourcategoriesbasedonrisk.Levelonewillfacelimitedriskandrequirenochangeinmanagementwhereasleveltwowouldre-quirefurtherstudies.RiversatalevelthreeriskcategorysuchastheSlavearethosefacingmoredevelopmentandwouldrequiresite-spe-cicmonitoringandman-agementactions.Waterwayswillnotbeal-lowedtoenterlevelfourwhichindicatesundueharmhasbeendonetothesystem.Atthispointyoudowhat-everittakestogetitbackdowntoalevelthreeKellyexplained.Thenegotiatingteamisalsolookingtoincludesocialindi-catorsforthersttimeinthistypeofbilateralagreementmeaningthattraditionalusesofwaterwayssuchastrans-portationtrappingandsh-ingcanbeusedalongsidebiologicalandwaterqualityindicatorstoraiseredags.Shesaidtherewilllikelybeaninternaldisputeresolutionprocesstoaddressbreachesoftheagreementwithassis-tanceifnecessaryfromanindependentpanelofscien-ticexperts.Howeverifanagreementcannotbereachedtheultimateendgameofale-gallybindingagreementisalwayscourt.OfcoursetheresgoingtobeadifferenceofopiniononwhatisundueharmKellysaid.Undueharmneedscri-teria.Whatweneedtodoisshowtheresundueharmnotjustsayit.ShesaidthatcriteriawillbebasedonconsultationswithNWTcommunitiesandAboriginalgroupsonwhatchangetowaterswouldbeconsideredacceptablebe-forethenalagreementissigned.WhilesomemembersoftheFortSmithaudienceex-pressedfrustrationoverhowlongtalkshavetakenaswellasincredulityatthenotionthatAlbertawouldagreetoanythingcontrarytoitsde-velopmentgoalsKellysaidnegotiationshavebeengoingmoresmoothlythanoriginallyanticipated.Theresmorepressurenowandpeopleatthetablerespectthat.Wethoughtitwasgoingtobereallydif-cultthattheNWTandAl-bertawouldbebuttingheads.Theressomeofthatbutnotnearlyasmuchaswethought.Albertahasaninterestintheagreementaswellbecauseofpressuresshesaid.Thisisthefarthestitsevercomeoverthelast13yearssohope-fullywellbeabletomakeitthrough.Albertaistherstjuris-dictiontheNWThasen-teredintonegotiationswithfollowingtheconclusionofthetransboundaryagree-mentsignedwithYukonin2000.AfterthisbilateralissignedtheterritorywillmoveontotalkswithBCSaskatchewanandnallyrevisitthePeelwatershedagreementwithYukon.DraftNWT-AlbertabilateralwateragreementexpectedbylatespringPhotoMeaganWohlbergDr.ErinKellymanagerofwatershedprogramsfortheGNWTgivesanupdateoncommunity-basedwatermonitoringresultsandthestatusoftransboundarywaternegotiationsinFortSmithonThursdayFeb.21.GNWTinstallsmorewoodpelletboilersThedepartmentofPublicWorksandServicesinstalledfourmorebiomassheatingsystemsinFortProvidenceYellowknifeBehchokoandFortSimpson.Thesein-cludetheCombinedServicesBuildingattheYellow-knifeAirportElizabethMackenzieElementarySchoolinBehchokoDehGahSchoolinFortProvidenceandFortSimpsonscommunityheatingsystem.Theyareexpectedtosaveover400000.MorebiomassprojectsareplannedforthenewhealthcentresinFortProvidenceandHayRiveramongothers.