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.
Tar Sands Healing Walk
Canada is home to two of the three largest dams in the world. They are used to hold back toxic sludge from the oil sands. 11 million litres of toxic wastewater seep out of the tailing pits into the boreal forest and Athabasca river every day. That is 4 billion litres a year. Air pollutant guidelines in Alberta are less stringent than international standards. Despite that, air quality objectives were exceeded 1,556 times in 2009, up from 47 times in 2004.