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Bilingual public lecture
Water, water everywhere… Will there be a drop to drink?
Wouldn’t it be ironic if Canadians, who see our country as a land of bountiful lakes, rivers and wetlands, find ourselves faced with a severe water shortage? This is a question pondered by Dr. Alex Bielak of Environment Canada’s National Water Research Institute (NRWI) who will be talking about Canada’s water quality and supply in a bilingual lecture at the Canadian Museum of Nature on November 4, 2004 at 7:30 p.m.
Bielak has titled his presentation, “Water, water everywhere… Will there be a drop to drink?”, in a nod to Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s epic poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Like the sailor surrounded by an ocean of undrinkable saltwater, Bielak points out the irony if Canadians suffered the unthinkable loss of our great natural resource. “Second only to Americans in their demands, Canadians use about 1,650 cubic metres of freshwater per capita each year…more than double the average European rate”. This startling quote is taken from a recent landmark report entitled, Threats to Water Availability in Canada, which Bielak, who is Director of the Institute’s Science Liaison Branch, co-edited.
This importance of this comprehensive report, as well as Threats to Sources of Drinking Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Health in Canada, contributed to the NWRI’s winning of a United Nations award for science and public awareness. In late September, the NWRI was awarded one of the 10 prestigious UN International Year of Fresh Water Science, Education & Conservation Awards. The reports were produced in response to serious public concern about Canada’s water.
“In the last few years we have been assailed by news of tragic events such as drinking water contamination in Walkerton and North Battleford,” says Bielak. “We’ve also heard stories about new chemical threats such as pharmaceuticals and flame retardants in our water, and the potential effects of climate change on water availability. Canadians are growing increasingly anxious about what is happening to their water supply. The science done at the National Water Research Institute can help inform decisions and policies relating to such issues.” Bielak will talk about the importance of water both globally and to Canadians, and describe such threats as urban run-off, waterborne pathogens, endocrine disruptors, and the impacts of climate change on water availability. He will explain how the work of the NWRI has been instrumental in marrying fundamental ecosystem science with support for better policy development and management.
Tickets for the lecture are $10 ($8 for seniors, students and Museum members). To reserve, please call (613) 566-4791. The Museum is located at 240 McLeod Street (at Metcalfe) in Ottawa.