The Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Waters Master Agreement commits provincial and territorial governments to cooperatively manage the shared water resources of the Mackenzie River Basin. There are fifty-eight shared water bodies, of which the largest is the Peace River.

Compass was engaged to help the governments of BC and Alberta prepare for formal bilateral negotiations. We used a Structured Decision Making approach to capture the interests of the parties in a concise set of shared objectives. We then identified water management alternatives – primarily related to allocation, consumption, surface and ground water quality and aquatic ecosystem health, and evaluated them against the objectives. The process helped the parties identify areas of potential agreement and disagreement and focused further discussions on developing solutions that would meet both parties’ interests. By engaging in a structured decision making process prior to formal negotiations, the parties were able to safely explore a range of creative options and gain a common understanding of the implications for both governments. This created a solid basis for subsequent negotiations.