Mackenzie River
At , the Mackenzie River drainage basin encompasses nearly 20 percent of Canada. About , or 54 percent of the basin, lies above Great Slave Lake. Permafrost underlies about three-quarters of the watershed, reaching up to deep in the Mackenzie Delta. As a whole, the Mackenzie basin receives only meager to moderate rainfall, averaging over the entire basin, though mountain areas experience much higher precipitation, and areas near and north of the Arctic Circle receive much lower precipitation.
Lakeland Provincial Park and Recreation Area
The Lakeland area straddles two drainage basins, and is thus drained by two major river systems, the Athabasca and the Beaver-Churchill. The Athabasca River drainage basin is the second largest drainage basin in Alberta. It drains 5 of the major lakes in the north-west section of the Lakeland area, including Blackett, Dabbs, Kinnaird, and McGuffin lakes, which all flow into Jackson Lake. Jackson Lake is drained by Gull Creek, which ultimately flows into the Piche River, which in turn joins the Owl River, then Lac La Biche, the La Biche River, and ultimately, into the Athabasca River and on to the Arctic Ocean.