A U.S.-based environmental think-tank says Canada's vast Mackenzie River basin is a vital global resource that is under threat from development, climate change, inadequate science and piecemeal management.
The Mackenzie Basin runs from Alberta's oilsands up to the Beaufort Sea and covers 20 per cent of Canada's land mass.
The Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy at the University of California says control over the enormous area should come under one agency.
Right now, seven governments and many aboriginal bands oversee their own bits and pieces of it.
U.S. and Canadian scientists who wrote the report say the basin's fate has global implications from climate change to the health of hundreds of bird species.
They say energy and mining development, as well as new hydro projects, are putting pressure on the region.
