The Globe and Mail
NATURAL RESOURCES

Supplies of fresh water at risk, federal report says
STEVE RENNIE
The Canadian Press
August 21, 2008

OTTAWA -- Canada's supplies of fresh water are not as plentiful as once thought, and water shortages threaten to pinch the economy and pit provinces against each other, a newly released document says.

An internal report drafted last December by Environment Canada warns that climate change and a growing population will further drain resources.

"We can no longer take our extensive water supplies for granted," says the draft report, titled A Federal Perspective on Water Quantity Issues.

The Canadian Press obtained the 21-page report under the Access to Information Act.

It suggests the federal government take a more hands-on role in managing the country's water, which is now largely done by the provinces. Ottawa still manages most of the fresh water in the North through water boards.

The Conservatives promised a national water strategy in last fall's Throne Speech but have been criticized since for announcing only piecemeal projects.

The Tories, like the previous Liberal government, are also behind in publishing annual reports required by law that show how water supplies are used and maintained. The last assessment posted on Environment Canada's website is from 2005-2006.

The internal draft report says the government currently does not know enough about the country's water to properly manage it.

"Canada lacks sound information at a national scale on the major uses and user(s) of water," it says.

"National forecasting of water availability has never been done because traditionally our use of the resource was thought to be unlimited."

Canada has a fifth of the world's supply of fresh water, but only 7 per cent of it is renewable. The rest comes from Ice-Age glaciers and underground aquifers.

One per cent of Canada's total water supply is renewed each year by precipitation, the report says.

Moreover, government data on the country's groundwater reserves is deemed "sparse and often inadequate."

That's in contrast to the United States, which has spent more than a decade mapping its underground water reserves. Canada shares aquifers with the U.S., and the report says: "Our lack of data places Canada at strategic disadvantage for bilateral negotiations with the U.S."

No one from Environment Canada was immediately available to comment.

The report forecasts droughts in the Prairies and groundwater shortages in British Columbia and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin.

The report also warns of a "heightened risk" of showdowns between the provinces, and between Canada and the United States, if the water supply dips too low.

Editors Note: Along with this article from the Globe and Mail was the following from the Council of Canadians;

TWO OTHER FEDERAL REPORTS
Additionally, the Ottawa Citizen reported on March 3 that, "Senior officials at Environment Canada were warned two years ago about potential economic and environmental impacts from water shortages as well as legal threats resulting from an explosion of development in the oilsands sector...(When asked about this) Environment Canada officials said they needed more time to explain what federal actions have been taken since 2006." A 2006 briefing note by Michael Horgan, deputy minister of Environment Canada, states, "The lack of a proper assessment of the cumulative environmental effects associated with these (tarsands) projects could result in legal challenges of federal and provincial approvals...EC is currently co-leading a policy research project with both the Alberta Ministries of Economic Development and Environment to value water as a natural capital and ensure its sustainable and efficient use." As noted in the article, Randy Mikula, a senior researcher at Natural Resources Canada, says the annual water allocation for tarsands companies now stands at 523 million cubic metres, but with new projects the estimated water allocation could rise to 703 million cubic metres, which would likely lead to water restrictions for part of the year.

On March 6, CBC-TV's The National reported that, "a yet-to-be released federal report...prepared by more than 100 Canadian scientists on behalf of Canada's Department of Natural Resources...(that focuses) on the impact climate change will have on the country...(says) water levels in Alberta and British Columbia are already dropping dramatically, as are the levels of the Great Lakes. The result could be a shortage of drinking water, the report says. It also warns that industries that rely on water - oil, gas, hydro-electricity, agriculture, even salmon farming - will also suffer..."

The March 3 Ottawa Citizen article can be read at http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=33bde455-7c02-4621-9d94-132dcf00ad7d

The March 6 CBC story is at http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/03/06/climate-study.html

To read Council of Canadians’ information on the need for a national water policy, please go to http://www.canadians.org/water/issues/policy/index.html.