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Water
 Freshwater resources are an essential component of the Earth's hydrosphere and an indispensable part of all terrestrial ecosystems... The widespread scarcity, gradual destruction and aggravated pollution of freshwater resources in many world regions, along with the progressive encroachment of incompatible activities, demand integrated water resources planning and management... As populations and economic activities grow, many countries are rapidly reaching conditions of water scarcity or facing limits to economic development. Water demands are increasing rapidly, with 70-80 per cent required for irrigation, less than 20 per cent for industry and a mere 6 per cent for domestic consumption.Chapter 18, United Nations Earth Summit - Agenda 21 |
International Initiatives
Water FootprintsThe Water Footprint Network recently launched its Water Footprint Manual containing a comprehensive set of methods for water footprint accounting. This manual can be used for individual events, consumers, nations and businesses with the goal to transition to sustainable, fair and efficient use of freshwater resources worldwide.  Download November 2009 Water Footprint Manual (PDF)View Water Footprint Network Website Sources: Water Footprint Report, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
View March 2009 IISD A Brief History of Global Water Issues Water & United Nations Earth Summit Agenda 21
International water issues are referenced in Chapter 18 of United Nations Earth Summit Agenda 21 document, entitled Protection of the Quality and Supply of Fresh Water Resources: Application of Integrated Approaches to the Development, Management and Use of Water Resources. Agenda 21 is the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and the plan to implement Rio agreements and guide business and government policies into the 21st century after Rio de Janeiro.View Chapter 18 of the United Nations Earth Summit Agenda 21 World Water DayVisit World Water Day website View previous World Water Days View Council of Canadians - World Water Day page Each year, a different United Nations (UN) agency is selected to coordinate events surrounding World Water Day (WWD) around the world, and a different theme is chosen to reflect the many facets of freshwater resources. The World Water ForumVisit World Water Council website Since 1992, there have been five international World Water Forums:
The 5th World Water Forum convened March 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey. 33,058 participants from 192 countries took part in the largest World Water Forum yet with over 100 session on 6 themes and 23 topics. The main theme of the 5th World Water Forum was, "Bridging Divides for Water", addressed through themes designed in a 'pyramid approach', where all sessions, topics, themes, issues and aim led to Bridging Divides for Water. View 5th World Water Forum website 
The 4th World Water Forum convened in Mexico City, Mexico from March 16-22, 2006, culminating with the celebration of World Water Day on the last day of the meetings - March 22nd. The main theme of the 4th World Water Forum was, "Local actions for a global challenge".Visit 4th World Water Forum website Over 200 thematic sessions were held as part of the forum, with almost 20,000 participants in attendance. Governments, UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia, business and industry, indigenous groups, youth and the media were all in attendance. View coverage of the 4th World Water Forum by IISD reporting services View IISD Summary of the 4th World Water Forum According to the Council of Canadians, "[t]he World Water Council is dominated by the World Bank, big water corporations, and the water ministries of First World countries. The pro-privatization lobby has a strong voice at the World Water Forum, and will continue to resist any attempts to take water out of the marketplace." An international community of organizations, including the Council of Canadians' Blue Planet Project coordinated an alternative forum to the World Water Council's World Water Forum. Activists and organizations from around the world met in Mexico City during the 4th World Water Forum for the first time. Visit Blue Planet Project website View March 13, 2006 press release on the Alternative World Water Forum They convened once again in 2009, Istanbul at the 5th World Water Forum to "delegitimise this false, corporate driven World Water Forum and to give voice to the positive agenda of the global water justice movements". View 2009 Peoples Water Forum Declaration Download 3rd UN World Water Development Report (PDF)
On March 19, 2006 at the 4th World Water Forum, the World Water Council in partnership with Green Cross International, Académie de l'eau, Alliance Maghreb Machrek and the International Secretariat for Water released a report entitled The Right to Water: from Concept to Implementation.The report identifies the conditions necessary for effective implementation of the right to water and in particular the necessary implication of all stakeholders at the local and national levels. Download March 19, 2006 press release for The Right to Water: from Concept to Implementation (DOC)Download report - The Right to Water: from Concept to Implementation (PDF)In the closing plenary of the 2006 4th World Water Forum, Koïchiro Matsuura, UNESCO Director-General, introduced the second edition of the World Water Development Report entitled Water: A Shared Responsibility stressing its focus on governance as a key to addressing the global water crisis and tackling poverty. The Report is a product of collaboration among 24 agencies involved in water resources management. Key findings of Water: A Shared Responsibility include:
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| Water is the lifeblood for all living things. According to the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME), Canada has approximately 7% of the world's total renewable freshwater supply. Manitoba has an abundant amount of surface and ground water in its inland lakes, rivers, and aquifers. Lakes and rivers cover 102,000 square kilometers of Manitoba's area (1/6 total area). The majority of water enters into Manitoba from neighbouring jurisdictions (three Canadian provinces and four U.S. states) and drains into the Hudson Bay. This huge surface area of water is made up of over 100,000 lakes as well as thousands of rivers and streams. Three of the 15 largest lakes in Canada are in Manitoba, Lake Winnipeg is the 10th largest freshwater lake in the world with its 24,000 square kilometer surface area. View map of Major Drainage Basins Contributing to Manitoba View map of Manitoba Watersheds View map of the Basin and Watershed Boundaries in Manitoba View map of the Hudson Bay and Nelson River Drainage Basins Manitoba has two Canadian Heritage Rivers (CHR): the Bloodvein River and the Seal River, with the Hayes River nominated. A river must be nominated, and can then become a Heritage River once a management plan or a heritage strategy is developed and approved by the Canadian Heritage Rivers System Board. Heritage Rivers are not legally protected from development, and are a federal program. The Canadian Heritage Rivers System was established in 1984 to give recognition to important rivers in Canada and is a program developed between federal and provincial/territorial governments to conserve the features and values of these rivers. Visit Canadian Heritage River System website |
2005-2015 UN Decade for Action 'Water for Life'
In December 2003, The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the decade 2005-2015 International Decade for Action 'Water for Life'. This recommendation, designed to begin on March 22, 2005, calls for a greater focus on water, greater participation of women in water-related development efforts, and coordinated action to deal with the world's ever-growing water crisis. A key objective is the implementation of Chapter 18 of Agenda 21.Visit UN Water For Life Decade website Water as a Human Right?The IUCN (also known as the World Conservation Union) release of the publication Water as a Human Right? in 2004 reflects a new international dialogue concerning the implications, benefits, steps and issues to be addressed so that access to clean water becomes an internationally recognized human right.Until now, the content and scope of a right to water has not been clearly defined in international law. No serious discussion about the fundamental human right to water has occurred at an international level. 
Water as a Human Right? provides a legal review of international conventions and agreements with regard to human rights and water. It explores possible content and scope of water as a human right, and examines the responsibilities of various parties.The authors conclude that a rights-based approach could be a logical means of giving effect to agreements such as the Millennium Development Goals and their reconfirmation at the 2003 World Summit on Sustainable Development. The Millennium Development Goals arise from the Millennium Declaration, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly September 8, 2000. The Millennium Development Goals are a commitment by UN countries to join forces in the fight against poverty, illiteracy, hunger, lack of education, gender inequality, child and maternal mortality, disease and environmental degradation. One of the actions to achieve Millennium Development Goal #7 - Ensure Environmental Sustainability - is to "reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water". Download IUCN publication Water as a Human Right?View United Nations Millennium Development Goals website Sources: International Institute for Sustainable Development, UNESCO, United Nations, World Water Council, Council of Canadians, IUCN) |
Canada Initiatives
 The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment Water Agenda Development Committee (WADC) manages intergovernmental approaches to water issues in Canada. WADC is currently:
The Canadian Government made new announcements for 2007-2008 under the Action Plan for Clean Water including:
Action Plan for Clean Water Oceans Action Plan Plan of Action for Drinking Water in First Nation Communities Building Canada: the Plan In 2007, as part of Canada's new National Water Strategy the federal government started the Health of the Oceans Initiative to protect Canada's marine environments, counter pollution and strengthen preventative measures. View Canada Government Health of the Oceans Initiatives Page In October 2007, the Gordon Water Group created Changing the Flow: a Blueprint for Federal Action on Freshwater (PDF), describing an action plan to protect Canada's freshwater. In May 1994, the CCME approved The National Action Plan to Encourage Municipal Water Use Efficiency with the goal of "achieving more efficient use of water in Canadian municipalities in order to save money and energy, delay or reduce expansion of existing water and wastewater systems, and conserve water". In 1987, following a three-year process, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) released the Canadian Water Quality Guidelines. The guidelines provide recommendations on protecting/enhancing freshwater and marine water use. Threshold concentrations for substances relating to aquatic life, drinking, recreational, agricultural, and industrial use are provided in the guidelines. The guidelines were revised in 1999 and integrated into Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines (550 environmental quality guidelines for water, air, soil, sediment and tissue residue). The CCME Water Quality Index (CCME WQI) outlines procedures for Canadian jurisdictions to report water quality information to both management and the public. In 1968, the Government of Canada published The Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality. Developed by the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Drinking Water of the Committee on Environmental and Occupational Health, the guidelines set out maximum acceptable concentrations for more than 140 microbiological, chemical/physical and radiological contaminants in drinking water. |
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Model for a Water Protection Regime?The Waterhole is a collaborative project of Environmental Defense and the Canadian Environmental Law Association. The Waterhole web site (waterhole.ca) is a meeting place for those in Canada who are concerned about the protection of water and contains information on water legislation and policies, news, contact information for groups working on water issues, and water related events.In February 2004, the Ontario provincial government released its White Paper on Watershed-based Source Protection Planning as part of its plan to implement the recommendations of the Walkerton Report. A list of provisions for the protection and safeguarding of Ontario's water resources and aquatic ecosystems has been developed and posted on The Waterhole. The provisions have been endorsed by a range of community and environmental groups. We are reproducing an excerpt of the list of provisions for a source water protection regime below. These provisions may be used as a model by other jurisdictions, including Manitoba, in the planning of its water policy and legislation. Bill 22, A Water Protection Act is currently under review, with amendments expected during the new session of the Legislature, starting November 22, 2004. Source Water Protection Statement of Expectations:
Visit The Waterhole website |
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Navigable Waters Protection Act Changes
The Canadian government's Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities is proposing changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA). The changes are cause for concern for public interest groups and First Nation communities, as they would significantly reduce triggers for federal Environmental Assessment (EA) processes.Currently, the NWPA is one of the primary triggers for federal Environmental Assessment of proposed projects in Canada. The amendments include changing the definition of "navigable waters" to exclude 'minor' waters from the Act. This would allow developers to alter water courses without the need for an environmental assessment, AND it means government would no longer be required to consider communities that make use of waterways when evaluating projects. The government is considering deletion of specific reference to each of the four 'named' works under the Act (bridges, dams, causeways, and booms), which currently automatically trigger an EA. EA often generates information that can affect First Nation consultation. Concerns about public participation and weakening of the EA process are relevant to First Nations and may mean Supreme Court rulings on the "duty to consult" will have to be relied upon to ensure First Nation traditional lands and resources (including waterways) are respected. It is unclear what public notification occurred with respect to input from the public, stakeholders and First Nation communities. The list of briefs and witnesses who presented before the Standing Committee includes a handful of NGOs, and no representatives from either Indian and Northern Affairs Canada or First Nations. View June 2008 Report from Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Consideration of Proposed Amendments to the Navigable Waters Protection Act View June 6, 2008 Daily Observer article View June 10, 2008 Green Party of Canada press release View comments on the proposed NWPA amendments on KNet (Keewaytinook Okimakanak, a Council of Northern Ontario Chiefs) Sources: Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Green Party of Canada, KNet, Daily Observer
Over 1,700 Boil-Water Advisories in Canada
An astounding 1766 boil water advisories in place across Canada in Spring 2008, with an additional 93 boil-water advisories in First Nation communities. The Canadian Medical Association Journal released a report of current provincial boil-water advisories, some having been in place for at least 5 years. Currently, there are no national drinking water quality standards. The Council of Canadians and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities are calling on federal and provincial governments to develop a strategy framework that will make clean, safe water a priority across the country. The federal government promised drinking water standards for First Nation communities in early 2007; there is no bill before the House of Commons. In Manitoba as of October 26, 2009, there are 90 boil water advisories or boil water orders compared to 59 in March of 2008, according to Manitoba Water Stewardships Office of Drinking Water. (Does not include First Nations) Advisories in Manitoba cover both public water systems, and private wells and septic field systems. The Water Chronicles, an independent organization, monitors water quality in Canada and maintains an interactive map of all boil-water advisories for Manitoba and across Canada. Download October 2009 Manitoba Water Stewardship Boil Water Advisories (PDF)View January 2009 House of Commons, Safe Drinking Water in First Nations Communities View The Water Chronicles - Water Advisories for Manitoba Boil water advisories means that the water is contaminated and unfit to drink without boiling. Health Canada estimates that unsafe drinking water causes 90 deaths and 90,000 illnesses each year in Canada. Download Manitoba Water Stewardship April 2008 Boil Water Advisories (PDF) View April 7, 2008 CMAJ article (PDF) View April 7, 2008 Globe and Mail article View April 7, 2008 CanWest News article View April 8, 2008 CMAJ article View April 8, 2008 CMAJ Editorial Sources: Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), The Globe and Mail, Canada.com
Aboriginal Water RightsWater and its supply, use, management, and jurisdiction are emerging as very important environmental, political and economic issues in Canada and around the world, and particularly so in the face of our changing climate. The rights of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada when it comes to water are also part of this discourse. Below we highlight important documents on the subject of Aboriginal Peoples' rights concerning water in Canada.
Download presentation Indigenous Peoples and Watershed Management: A Discussion of Rights, Interests and Interesting Approaches, by Merrell-Ann Phare, Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (PPT)Download video of Ms. Phare's presentation  (RM)Download Bridge over troubled waters: Canadian Law on Aboriginal and Treaty "Water" Rights and the Great Lakes Annex, Kate Kempton, Olthuis Kleer Townshend, on behalf of the Chiefs of Ontario (PDF) |
Manitoba Water Initiatives
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Trans-Boundary Initiatives
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Water Links,
2002-2010