In the Mackenzie River basin, every province and territory is responsible for water management within their own jurisdictions. Transboundary agreements are bilateral in nature and, as such, address waters that flow between two jurisdictions. The waters of the Peace River flow directly between British Columbia and Alberta.

The Northwest Territories-Alberta Bilateral Water Management Agreement deals directly with waters that flow between Alberta and the Northwest Territories, such as the Slave River. This is the approach defined in the Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Master Agreement. As Alberta has made commitments related to water quality and overall ecosystem integrity in the Northwest Territories-Alberta Bilateral Agreement, they must ensure those commitments can be kept as they continue to negotiate with British Columbia towards their Alberta-British Columbia Bilateral Water Management Agreement.

The Northwest Territories-British Columbia Bilateral Water Management Agreement covers our directly shared waters with British Columbia within the Liard River Basin. British Columbia and the Yukon have recently signed a bilateral water management agreement related to their shared waters in the Liard Basin.