Saskatchewan dam diverting 95 per cent of NWT river towards oilsands – Northern Journal

May 18, 2015

Past mistakes support need for transboundary water agreements: minister

A river in a virtually unchecked corner of the Northwest Territories has been losing 95 per cent of its water to Saskatchewan and Alberta for over 50 years, with little to no monitoring of the downstream impacts.

The Tazin River, whose headwaters arise in the Northwest Territories before dipping southward into Tazin Lake in Saskatchewan and back up again into the NWT’s Taltson River system, has been regulated by a dam on the outflow of Tazin Lake since 1939.

That earth fill dam, originally constructed to support gold production in Saskatchewan, was raised by an additional two metres in 1958, effectively blocking 95 per cent (25 m/s) of natural lake outflow from returning north to the territory.

Read More: http://norj.ca/2015/05/saskatchewan-dam-diverting-95-per-cent-of-nwt-river-towards-oilsands/