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OTTAWA, April 19 /CNW Telbec/ – Canadians can no longer take for granted boundless quantities of clean, fresh water. To prevent local water challenges from becoming a widespread crisis, a new Conference Board report makes six recommendations to improve governance and management of Canadian water.
“Canada’s freshwater resources are less available than we think. In many regions, water quality and quantity are already under stress,” said Gilles Rhéaume, Vice-President, Public Policy. “Across North America, the answer to water scarcity is not trade, but better water governance and management.
“We need to resist pressure for bulk water diversions, while strengthening our governance and management institutions to address the
stresses on our water resources. These pressures are coming from growing urbanization, industrial and natural resource development, and a changing climate.”
The findings in Navigating the Shoals: Assessing Water Governance and Management in Canada are based on case studies of five Canadian watersheds-the Abbotsford-Sumas Aquifer and the Okanagan Basin in British Columbia, the South Saskatchewan River Basin, the Grand River Watershed in southern Ontario, and the Ottawa River Basin. Each of these case study watersheds cross multiple jurisdictions, which make managing water resources challenging.
The research found that water managers often do not have clear policy direction, required information or mandates for action needed to effectively manage the resource. Each of the five watersheds has strengths in its management and governance structures, and all have areas for improvement. The six recommendations outlined in the report are:
– Clarify governance structures;
– Encourage a nested approach to watershed governance, where water management activity within smaller sub-basins is incorporated into the overall watershed operations and decision making;
– Improve interagency cooperation;
– Integrate groundwater and surface water management;
– Prioritize and budget for adequate information to support decision-making; and
– Explore greater use of market-based instruments for water management.
The report is publicly available at www.e-library.ca. It is the first report published under the banner of the Leaders Forum on Water Resource Management and Governance, a three year Conference Board initiative made up of policy-makers, regulators and users that have a stake in this important resource.
For further information: Brent Dowdall, Media Relations, (613) 526-3090 ext. 448; corpcomm@conferenceboard.ca
To download a copy of the report, click here [pdf file: 0.46mb](Conference Board Report).