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6 Wednesday October 21 2015 ENVIRONMENT WATER supports the small businesses of High Level District the lifeblood of our community Find the business youre looking for on our website at www.highlevelchamber.com supports the small businesses of High Level District the lifeblood of our community Find the business youre looking for on our website at www.highlevelchamber.com By DALI CARMICHAEL Its an old saying that whisky is for drink- ing and water is for ghting over and I think weve proven with these agreements that it doesnt have to be that way that we truly can collaborate in the best interests of the people who live in our territories. British Columbia Environment Minister Mary Polak made this statement in Vancou- ver on Oct. 15 shortly after signing a new Transboundary Water Management Agree- ment with Northwest Territories Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Michael Miltenberger. The bilateral agreement is the second of its kind with a similar document signed between the GNWT and Alberta in March of this year. Whats so unique about this and the Al- berta agreement that we signed is that they are the only two functioning agreements in the world where the water - where the aquatic ecosystem - is identied rst Miltenberger said. In this case 85-90 per cent of the water is going to stay in the basin to make sure that the basin can thrive and survive and we rec- ognize the ecosystem needs leaving plenty of room for human use. Specically the agreement addresses the shared waters of the Liard and Petitot Basins GNWT B.C. sign water management agreement British Columbia Environment Minister Mary Polak and Northwest Territories Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Michael Miltenberger also minister of finance sign an agreement to protect the source waters of the entire Mackenzie River system in Vancouver Oct. 15. PhotoscourtesyoftheGNWT located in northeastern B.C. and bordering on the NWT. However both ministers noted its benets would be felt downstream through the tributaries into the Peace-Athabasca Delta coursing through the Slave River and towards the Beaufort Delta - the full breadth of the Mackenzie watershed which covers about 20 per cent of Canadas landmass. We are incorporating many best prac- tices in water management protecting our ecosystems economies and the interests of citizens and First Nations communities Polak said. The involvement of the Fort Nel- son First Nation has been and continues to be integral to informing our objectives and our approaches. She said the agreement is a mutually ben- ecial respectful partnership that formally recognizes and respects our laws regulations plans policies environmental protection and economic opportunities. When presenting the agreement in the Legislative Assembly of the NWT on Oct. 8 Miltenberger indicated the document had also been shaped by the input of Aboriginal governments in the Northwest Territories. The agreement addresses the concern of future upstream development in British Co- lumbia as well as responds to environmen- tal emergencies and their potential effects on water quality quantity and biological el- ements of our shared aquatic ecosystems he told the sitting assembly. Polak said the deal works hand-in-hand with her provinces Water Sustainability Act which received Royal Assent in May 2014. What youll see is an overarching plan to manage together since these river sys- tems cross our borders she said. I dont think youll see any dramatic change with industry because they are already being brought into a much greater focus on water use. Were seeing for example in the northeast of B.C. significant efforts on the part of major oil and gas companies to re-use water. Shell has a major rescue project Dawson Creek so on and so forth. I think industry is already responding to the changing attitudes around water and sustainability. A boon for the 17th Assembly Securing water management and pro- tection agreements has been a top politi- cal concern for the 17th Assembly of the GNWT. Its very important for us to sign this Miltenberger said noting the writ for the territorial election is looming. I thank the minister for honouring her commitment of a few months back to get this done before we in fact left office because this is a crit- ical piece of work for us and it will help us collectively better manage the Mackenzie River Basin. Mounting environmental concerns have also driven the need for developing and of- ciating these transboundary agreements. We share the enormous pressures on water Miltenberger said. Weve watched as maybe you have what happens with your re seasons - our re seasons - record-breaking drought that weve never had before water levels that are all-time lows rain that has stopped coming so these agreements are very very critical to us and weve worked very hard to get them done. The new legislation builds on the Macken- zie River Basin Transboundary Waters Mas- ter Agreement signed by the governments of Canada British Columbia Alberta Sas- katchewan Yukon and the Northwest Ter- ritories in 1997. Polak indicated her government is in the process of establishing a similar agreement with Alberta and Yukon. Miltenberger said he is also in discussions with Yukon to renew its bilateral agreement established in 2002 and is building new agreements with Nuna- vut and Saskatchewan. 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