Mackenzie River down the spread of essential nutrients which builds up in the form of sediments, thus causing the river to become more polluted. Other smaller hydroelectric plants are located along the Snare and Taltson River tributaries, providing power to mines in the Great Slave Lake region. There have been many proposals to dam the tributaries of the Mackenzie River which would lead to further impacts on water quality and seasonal flow patterns. The Site C Dam on the Peace River, which would generate enough power for about 460,000 households, has been controversial since the 1970s, and a final decision on the
Mackenzie River . Six other lakes in the watershed cover more than , including the Williston Lake reservoir, the second-largest artificial lake in North America, on the Peace River. The river discharges more than of water each year, accounting for roughly 11% of the total river flow into the Arctic Ocean. The river is frozen for most of the year, with the ice typically breaking up by early to mid-May in the south, and late May-early June in the north. Ice breaks up earlier on the tributaries, sometimes causing ice jams and flooding where they meet the Mackenzie. In the middle of