Water Canadian Needs And Resources

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.

This book provides an insightful and critical assessment of the state of Canadian water governance and policy. It adopts a multidisciplinary variety of perspectives and considers local, basin, provincial and national scales. Canada’s leading authorities from the social sciences, life and natural sciences address pressing water issues in a non-technical language, making them accessible to a wide audience. Even though Canada is seen as a water-rich country, with 7% of the world’s reliable flow of freshwater and many of the world’s largest rivers, the country nevertheless faces a number of significant water-related challenges, stemming in part from supply-demand imbalances but also a range of water quality issues. Against the backdrop of a water policy landscape that has changed significantly in recent years, this book therefore seeks to examine water-related issues that are not only important for the future of Canadian water management but also provide insights into transboundary management, non-market valuation of water, decentralized governance methods, the growing importance of the role of First Nations peoples, and other topics in water management that are vital to many jurisdictions globally. The book also presents forward-looking approaches such as resilience theory and geomatics to shed light on emerging water issues. Researchers, students and those directly involved in the management of Canadian waters will find this book a valuable source of insight. In addition, this book will appeal to policy analysts, people concerned about Canadian water resources specifically as well as global water issues.

Water demand management is defined as any socially beneficial measure that reduces or reschedules average or peak withdrawals from surface or groundwater sources while maintaining or mitigating the extent to which return flows are degraded. This report discusses the principles of the demand management approach, and provides a general overview of the major techniques available and used and the basic data collection and research programs; examines municipal, industrial and agricultural water use and identifies current problems; examines the impacts of water demand management on nonwithdrawal water uses; and outlines major strategic actions required to integrate water demand management fully into the way in which Canadians manage their water resources.

Proceedings of "River Basin Management: Canadian Experiences", a national symposium held in Kitchener, Ontario, October 4-7, 1981. Focuses on strategic issues associated with river basin management in Canada. Covers management problems, alternative solutions, implementing selected plans, and monitoring implemented activities.