The Prairie Provinces Water Board (PPWB) is the body that oversees the administration of the Master Agreement on Apportionment (MAA). Signed in 1969, the MAA is an agreement in place between Canada and the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba relating to the sharing of water in eastward flowing rivers. In 1992 the agreement was amended to include water quality. The PPWB consists of representatives from Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, the Water Security Agency of Saskatchewan, and Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship, as well as Environment Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
To facilitate collaboration on water quality issues between its provincial and federal member agencies, the PPWB uses specialty committees related to various aspects of the agreement. The Committee on Water Quality (COWQ) is the committee that directly oversees aspects of the MAA related to water quality, specifically at 12 interprovincial boundary rivers.
The COWQ has identified nutrient enrichment as a primary water quality concern in prairie interprovincial riverine systems. To assess nutrient sources and inform potential management actions the COWQ is requesting that a comprehensive evaluation of non-point and point sources of nutrients be undertaken for selected river systems. This evaluation will be designed to support a better understanding of the scope of nutrient enrichment from various sources and provide direction towards identification of relevant management strategies.
As a pilot project the COWQ has identified one river at each interprovincial border (Red Deer R. AB/SK and Carrot R SK/AB). Pending the outcome of this effort, future work will be expanded to each of the remaining 10 interprovincial river systems.
