The Hudson Bay drainage system: conflicts and cooperation in transboundary water quantity and quality

• Main Author: Paton, William H.N.
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Hudson Bay; Drainage system; Conflict; Water quality; Transboundary; Canada; Prairie; Comparative regulatory framework; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Hudson; Climate change
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1993/33976

Canada's rivers discharge about 9 percent of the world's renewable water supply. Some 60 percent of this runoff flows into the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay. The bulk of the Hudson's Bay water arises in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and flows through Saskatchewan to Manitoba. The rest of the water comes into Manitoba at the North Dakota border as the Red River of the North. This paper will review the impact of the current agreements that influence both interprovincial and international water quantity and quality transfers. Water is a major limitation to economic development on the arid Canadian prairies. The influence of predicted climate change, increased crop irrigation and major expansion of intensive livestock production and meat processing in Manitoba will be discussed. The current limited regulatory framework for water quality in Manitoba as compared to regulations of upstream users will also be highlighted.