NOTE FROM EDITOR: I was snooping around another website and saw this advertised, so I went in and investigated. Ironically, this was advertised in a USA newspaper! Another ironically, here this is happening in my own province and I didn't know!

There are some superb research papers being done at the University of Victoria, so please go into their home page and wander through. Totally awesome!

I am including the brief summary of their project and I know anyone who is interested in water across the province, will be most pleased to find some of the material the Polaris Project is releasing.

The Water Sustainability Project (WSP) began in 2003 at the University of Victoria's POLIS Project on Ecological Governance in British Columbia, Canada.

The WSP recognizes that water scarcity is largely a social dilemma that cannot be solved by technical innovations alone. Instead this crisis of governance must be addressed through new integrated approaches to water management and decision-making that embeds the notion of ecological sustainability in government, business and industry, and civil society.

By focusing on fundamental governance issues such as long-term comprehensive watershed based planning, decision making, innovative institutional and ecosystem-based legal reforms, the WSP seeks to establish a new water paradigm based on conservation, stewardship and sustainability. To address this challenge the project is divided into three core research themes crucial to a sustainable water future:

» Water Conservation & The Soft Path
» Water-Energy Nexus
» Law, Policy & Governance
As a critical aspect of this initiative the WSP continues to develop innovative legal, institutional and practical approaches that embody the principles of ecological governance. Our work provides the foundation for a comprehensive legal and policy framework for sustainable water management and is complemented by detailed action plans for federal, provincial and municipal governments in Canada.