Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy releases report on the Mackenzie River Basin
The Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy has released its latest report based on the findings of a 2012 workshop on water management challenges in the Mackenzie River Basin.
The workshop, which took place in Vancouver from September 5 to 7, 2012, convened several experts in the fields of hydrology, law, economics, and biology with the goal of looking at the legal and scientific principles relevant to creating a co-ordinated basin-wide approach to management. John Pomeroy and Robert Sandford from the Centre for Hydrology, University of Saskatchewan contributed to writing the report. The workshop was co-hosted by the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation and Simon Fraser University's Adaptation to Climate Change Team.
The report concludes that hydrological regimes and the environment of the Basin are at risk from global warming and that the water and ecosystems of the Basin are globally important and require Basin residents and Canada to assume full stewardship responsibilities for the Basin. The Report recommends mandatory posting of significant performance bonds on the part of extractive industries wishing to operate in the Basin, increased water monitoring throughout the Basin, incorporation of local and enhanced scientific knowledge in decision making, re-invigorating the Mackenzie River Basin Board, and the use of the precautionary principle for developments and actions which could adversely affect the region. The report and a recent CBC press release on it are available through the following links:
Rosenberg International Forum: The Mackenzie River Basin
CBC News: Mackenzie River Basin at risk due to climate change, mining