The Missouri drainage region, located in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, is the only region in Canada that drains into the Gulf of Mexico. This small drainage region is heavily dominated by agricultural activity, with arable land and natural land for pasture accounting for 82.7% of the total area in 2011, followed by natural and semi-natural area (16.2%) and built-up area (1.2%).
Population and population density were relatively low at 8,439 and 0.3 persons/km2 respectively in 2011.
Surface freshwater intake from irrigation and drinking water plants was 20.2 million m3 in 2013.
The average annual water yield (0.5 km3) and the water yield per unit area (0.02 m3/m2) over the period of 1971 to 2013, were the lowest in the country. The monthly variability index was the second highest in the country, indicating that the monthly water flows can vary widely from year to year. Monthly water flows peak in March. Data on trends over time are not available. Evapotranspiration was 0.33 m3/m2, compared to 0.23 m3/m2 at the Canada level.
