Threats To Water Availability In Canada

This assessment of threats to freshwater availability in Canada is presented against the backdrop of a limited natural resource, not always located in the right place and increasingly under stress from human & other influences. After a brief overview of the history of water management & use in Canada, each chapter details the current status, trends, knowledge, and program & information needs for each threat. The first six chapters cover threats from water allocation, diversion, & export; dams, reservoirs, & flow regulation; droughts & floods; municipal water supply & urban development; and manufacturing & thermal energy demands. The next three review threats from land use practices & changes in agriculture, forestry, mining, and petroleum production. The following five chapters review threats resulting from climate variability & change in groundwater resources, rivers & streams, lakes & reservoirs, wetlands, and the cryosphere. The final chapter discusses integrated & cumulative threats to water availability.

"The report, 'Make It Safe: Canada's Obligation to End the First Nations Water Crisis,' documents the impacts of serious and prolonged drinking water and sanitation problems for thousands of indigenous people--known as "First Nations"--living on reserves. It assesses why there are problems with safe water and sanitation on reserves, including a lack of binding water quality regulations, erratic and insufficient funding, faulty or sub-standard infrastructure, and degraded source waters. The federal government's own audits over two decades show a pattern of overpromising and underperforming on water and sanitation for reserves"--Publisher's description.

This book deals with the water policy and management in Canada. It discusses various problems and risks in the fresh and drinking water supply in the second largest country in the world. Mohammed Dore argues that water is underpriced and used wastefully in Canada. In selected case studies, he illustrates the major threats from human activity to Canadian freshwaters and drinking water resources, including manufacturing, mining, oil sands production, animal farming and agricultural use. Selected case studies include reviews of even dramatic incidences, e.g. the Walkerton tragedy of 2000, when 7 people were killed and 200 went onto permanent dialysis treatment because of water contamination with harmful pathogens. The book warns that wastewater treatment standards are often not sufficient, so that many drinking water resources are in peril of wastewater contamination. As most of the water resources are provincial responsibility, the book discusses the water management policies in the different provinces separately. Through a detailed discussion and statistical analyses, it can define water policy and management lessons that emerge from the investigated case studies. It ends by contrasting water policy and practice in Canada with the practice in some European countries.

Water has been described as 'the oil of the 21st century' with rapid population growth, climate change and pollution conspiring to make it the resource over which wars may be fought in years to come. But does water have a price? Is it a right or a need? Increasingly, water is viewed as a commodity whose function is to generate profits. In this book, Larbi Bouguerra argues that instead we should view it as a common good of humanity. Water has an exceptional cross-cultural symbolic value and its use raises enormous questions about our lifestyle, our ethics and our relationship to nature. Bouguerra makes a powerful case for a society that is more economical with water and manages it openly and democratically, as a global resource.

An incisive critique of Canada's drinking water gatekeepers. Canada is celebrated for its abundance of fresh water, and few Canadians question the safety of the water that comes from our taps. But is this trust justified? One study estimates that contamination of drinking water causes 90,000 cases of illness and ninety deaths every year. In this authoritative review of decades of legislation, research, and independent regulatory critiques, accompanied by riveting stories of the many failures of our water supply, award-winning journalist Chris Wood and Canadian water policy expert Ralph Pentland expose how governments at every level have failed to protect our drinking water. The authors review the history of water management in Canada and approaches to the problem in Europe and the United States, then analyze our own approach in recent times, and finally propose a strategy to protect our water--including a new charter that will hold our government to account.

As the sustainability of our natural resources is increasingly questioned, Canadians remain stubbornly convinced of the unassailability of our water. Mounting evidence suggests, however, that Canadian water is under threat. Eau Canada assembles the country's top water experts to discuss our most pressing water issues. Perspectives from a broad range of thinkers � geographers, environmental lawyers, former government officials, aquatic and political scientists, and economists � reflect the diversity of concerns in water management. Arguing that weak governance is at the heart of Canada's water problems, this timely book identifies our key failings, explores debates over jurisdiction, transboundary waters, exports, and privatization, and maps out solutions for protecting our most important resource.