The Mackenzie River Basin
An Introduction
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.)
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.