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8TuesdayFebruary112014NWT-AlbertawateragreementhitshomestretchByMARIACHURCHNegotiationstoseeatransboundarywateragree-mentfortheMackenzieRiverBasinwhichbeganwithfederalprovincialandterritorialsignaturesin1997arenowinthehomestretchbetweenAlbertaandtheNorthwestTerritoriesaccordingtotheNWTsEnvironmentminister.Thenegotiatingteamsfortheprovinceandterri-toryareaimingtoconcludetalksbyMayofthisyearasignicantmilestoneafteryearsofdiscussionsscien-ticresearchandmillionsofdollarsMichaelMilten-bergersaidataconstitu-encymeetinginFortSmithlastweek.WereinthehomestretchwithAlbertahesaid.Wereover90percentdone.Werejusttryingtogetsomeofthethornieris-suesdone.TheGNWTenteredintoseriousnegotiationsforabilateralwateragreementwiththeprovincein2007withamemorandumofunderstanding.NWTnegotiatorsexpectedyearsofdiscussionstoyieldadraftagreementwithAl-bertalastsummerbutpo-liticalshiftspreventedanyconcreteactionbetweenthegovernmentsMilten-bergersaid.ThisMaydeadlinewethinkisgoingtobetheonethatgetsustherehesaid.OnceadraftagreementispresentedtotheGNWTthenextstepwillseethedocu-mentbroughttocommuni-tiesandFirstNationsacrosstheterritoryforconsultationbeforethenalagreementissigned.TheMackenzieRiverBasinwhichbeginsinPeaceRiverABandowsNorthuptotheArcticOceanisthelargestwatershedinCanadaandcrossesbordersintheNWTYukonBCAlbertaandSaskatchewan.Asthedownstreamju-risdictionforthebasintheNWTisheavilyaffectedbywhatshappeningupstreamMiltenbergersaid.Assuchtheterritoryhastakentheleadontransboundarywateragreements.Albertahesaidiscon-sideredapriorityfortheGNWTbecauseofthevol-umeandpaceofindustrialgrowth.Albertaifyoulookattheirregistrytheyhavespillsregularly.Somearemajorsomearesmallbuttheressuchintensedevelopment.Justmathematicallytheamountofworkthattheyaredoingpipelinestheyhaveandtheamountofdrillingtheyaredoingtheresenor-mousconcern.EverythingtheyredoingtherepercussionstendtoJoeCampbellpresidentofTerraXMineralsInc.holdsapublicconsultationmeetinginYellowknifeonJan.23.ThejuniorcompanyislookingintoseveraldepositsnorthofthedefunctGiantMine.Thoughthecompanyisprimarilyexploringforgoldthereisalsoevidenceofcopperandsilverinthedeposits.PendingpermittingTerraXwillbedoingmoredrillingthisspring.PhotoBillBradenItsamajorprovincewithaverypressingdevelopmentagendaMiltenbergersaid.TheObedcoalspilllatelastyearwhichsaw90000tonnesofcoalslurryowdowntwonorthernAlbertatributariesandintotheAtha-bascaRiverbeforereachingtheSlaveintheNWTisoneexampleofenvironmentalconcernsfrequentinAl-bertahesaid.comethiswayMilten-bergersaid.Ourgoalistomakesurethewatersareprotectedandabundantandcleanforall.Miltenbergersaidtheend-gamefortheGNWTistoseewateragreementswithallborderingjurisdictionsincludingNunavutwhichisadownstreamjurisdic-tionfortheNWTswatersources.Wereover90percentdone.Werejusttryingtogetsomeofthethornierissuesdone.MinisterMichaelMiltenbergerEnvironmentandNaturalResourcesEnvironmentWaterTerraxMineralsplanstodrillforgold