Principles of a Sustainable Water Strategy
A sustainable water strategy in Canada must be founded on the following three principles:
A Conservation Ethic
In contrast to the traditional ‘hard’ approach that seeks to control or manipulate natural systems, a conservation ethic requires that our use and management of water respects and protects the environment. This means that:
- water management of the future will need to be ‘softer’ than in the past;
- water management will rely less on increasing the water supply and more on reducing our water demand; and
- reliance on large infrastructure, such as big pipes and mega-dams that dislocate river systems, will be replaced with non-structural solutions such as planning, education and economic instruments.
A conservation ethic requires that Canadian citizens respect and treasure their freshwater resources and recognize the fundamental role of water in sustaining a high standard of living. Canadians must acknowledge that the supply of clean, safe water is not a limitless resource.
A Citizen-Centred Vision
The forces of globalism are increasingly overwhelming the rights of ordinary citizens and the public commons. In response, a Canada-wide water strategy must recognize that:
- all Canadians have the right to safe, clean water for fulfilling basic personal and domestic needs;
- that it is the duty of all governments to protect and preserve water resources for the use and enjoyment of the entire population, not just the privileged; and
- where this duty is not being met, Canadian citizens should have the right to insist on the full consideration of the public interest through effective mechanisms, like those that exist in other countries under the doctrine of ‘public trust’.
Thinking Like a Watershed
Because watershed boundaries seldom coincide with political boundaries, we need to take better account of watersheds in our decision-making. Watershed-based management requires:
- an appreciation of the complex interactions that occur between the natural hydrological system and human activities;
- an awareness that activities such as water abstraction, urban development, commercial and agricultural operations all impact the quantity and quality of both surface and groundwater; and
- an approach that is holistic, integrated, precautionary and adaptive that is capable of accounting for complex hydrological interactions.
