The Mackenzie River Basin

An Introduction

Two people on a rocky shore, with a colour sky. Likely taken in the afternoon while the sun is casting interesting colours into the clouds.  Photo by Sarah Lord

Photo by Sarah Lord

Photo by Sarah Lord

The Basin

The Mackenzie River Basin covers approximately 18% of the landmass of Canada (1.8 million square kilometres). The Mackenzie River system flows 4,241 kilometres from the Columbia Ice-field in Jasper National Park and the deep snowfields of the upper Peace River in northeastern British Columbia, to its mouth at the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean.

(Click on the boxes to zoom into the features below.)

A photo of the Beaufort Sea, from the Beaufort Sea Partnership website. A picture of a vast and large ocean, with large chunks of snow-covered ice spread throughout the water.

 Beaufort Sea - Beaufort Sea Partnership 

The Mackenzie River Basin can be sub-divided into six major  sub-basins . The six sub-basins are the Athabasca, the Peace, the Liard, the Peel, the Great Slave, and the Mackenzie-Great Bear.

The basin includes three large  deltas : the  Peace- Athabasca Delta , the  Slave River Delta , and the  Mackenzie Delta .

Click to zoom in on the deltas.

Geography

The basin extends from the Mackenzie and Rocky Mountains in the west, through the Interior Plains to the Canadian Shield in the east. This broad expanse results in eight of the fifteen Canadian terrestrial  ecozones  being represented within the Mackenzie River Basin. These  ecozones  range from the boreal forest of north-central Alberta to the arctic tundra in the north and east, with permafrost underlying a significant proportion of the Basin. This diversity of ecozones also results in a wide range of natural resources.

Canadian Shield - Tracking Change - Zizhao Fang

Climate

Since 1948 the average temperature in Canada has increased by approximately 1.7℃ which is about twice the global rate. Northern Canada is warming at a rate roughly three times the global average, with an increase of approximately 2.3℃ ( Canada's Changing Climate Report , Chapter  3.1 ,  3.3 ,  8.4 ). This has implications for the health of the Basin’s aquatic ecosystems, and the well being of the people who rely on those resources. Climate change will affect northern, isolated, and Indigenous communities disproportionately, with traditional activities disrupted due to unpredictability and climatic extremes ( Charting Our Course , Canadian Institute for Climate Solutions).

The window on the right is a visualization of climate data and modeling from  ClimateData.ca , a collaborative project with the Canadian government and multiple other organizations. The upper bar allows you to control the variables, with RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5 representing a low emissions (2.6), moderate emissions (4.5), and high emissions (8.5) scenario. RCP stands for Representative Concentration Pathway, and refers to the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere. You can adjust the variables to allow for further insights.

Knowledge Within the Basin

The people who lived in the Mackenzie River Basin for generations have a significant amount of information regarding the current and historical state of the basin. Some of this information has recently been shared in a series of literature reviews published by the University of Alberta's  Tracking Change  project. A literature review for each sub-basin can be found  here .

The Mackenzie River Basin  Transboundary Waters Master Agreement  directs the Mackenzie River Basin Board to periodically report on the  State of the Aquatic Ecosystem . Work is underway to develop an updated State of the Aquatic Ecosystem Report that will bring together available science, local, and Traditional Knowledge from the Mackenzie River Basin. The different knowledge systems provide a more thorough and well-rounded understanding of the basin, and support effective, intentional, and holistic water management decisions.

Photo by Sarah Lord

Protecting the Basin

There is a wide variety of industrial activity throughout the basin, including agriculture, fossil energy, forest products, hydroelectricity and mineral extraction. There is also a variety of different monitoring programs that are collecting data on contaminants and water quality and quantity variables. To help compile and understand this data, innovative solutions such as the  Mackenzie DataStream  have been developed to help visualize and analyze water quality data at a basin-scale from academic, government, and community-based sources. This map identifies the locations of water-quality collection sites used by the DataStream.  Click-here to see more detailed information on the Mackenzie DataStream website. 

The  Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Waters Master Agreement  directs the MRBB to report on the  State of the Aquatic Ecosystem  every five years. The State of the Aquatic Ecosystem Report brings together the available information within the Mackenzie River Basin to aid our understanding of conditions in the Basin.

A watershed approach to river basin planning and management links land-use practices with the health of aquatic ecosystems. Most jurisdictions are moving in this direction and the Board will encourage all partners, industries, and Basin residents to support this integrated approach.

Canadian Shield - Tracking Change - Zizhao Fang