Resolving Water-Use Conflicts: Insights from the Prairie Experience for the Mackenzie River Basin

The southern regions of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan suffer from periodic drought more than any other part of Canada. They depend heavily on rivers that rise in the Rocky Mountains and traverse all three provinces to their outlet on Hudson Bay. In 1969, after a prolonged period of disagreement between Alberta and Saskatchewan over conflicting priorities for the use of prairie rivers, the two provinces joined with the governments of Manitoba and Canada to enter into an arrangement known as the Apportionment Agreement. The Agreement was based on the broad principle that each upstream province would allow one-half of the natural flow of the rivers to pass to its downstream neighbors. But much has changed since 1969: A warming climate, a growing population and an expanding economy, particularly in Alberta, has focused increased attention on the water resources of the prairies and demands an examination of how the Agreement works today.