1. Introduction
2. Setting the stage for a new approach
3. Principles for Environmental Sustainability
4. The Issues:
1. Energy
2. Wild Species and Spaces
3. Oceans
4. Water
5. Food and Agriculture
6. Human Health and Toxic Chemicals
7. Economic Signals
5. Conclusion

The Full Report

The Issues: Water

Canada has some of the world's most extensive freshwater resources. But we cannot continue to take these resources for granted in the face of global warming. Warmer temperatures may lead to an increase in toxic blooms, for example, and lower seasonal water levels will increase the risk of contamination from urban runoff or rural soil erosion.

In Alberta's mountain ranges, the glaciers and snowpacks that serve as "water towers" for the Prairies are already in retreat, while water levels in the upper Great Lakes have been falling year by year. Expert predictions suggest these changes will accelerate with a hotter, drier climate. Meanwhile, invasive species, persistent organic pollutants, endocrine disrupters and groundwater depletion are all having an impact on our water supplies. The threat of bulk water exports and diversions south of the border has also loomed large in recent years.

Clean and abundant water is essential to ensuring the health of Canadians and the health of our economy: Water is a vital input to industrial production and the energy sector, and is critical for agricultural production, as well as tourism and recreation.

We must ensure that the government's October 2007 Speech from the Throne commitment to engage Canadians in a national discussion of this country's water future leads to a robust and comprehensive national water strategy.

Canada's Water Action Agenda:

• By 2010, develop a comprehensive Canada-wide water strategy in collaboration with provincial, territorial governments, First Nations, and community organizations. Key elements of the strategy should include:

  • A Sustainable Water Act to conserve water through such measures as national appliance water-efficiency standards, enhanced prohibitions on bulk water exports, and protection and restoration of vulnerable waters facing urgent threats, such as the Great Lakes, Arctic Ocean and Bay of Fundy;

  • A Safe Drinking Water Act to ensure safe drinking water for all Canadians, including binding federal standards for drinking-water quality;

  • Action plans to protect groundwater and ensure safe drinking water for all First Nations and Inuit communities;

  • Prevention of inter-jurisdictional water conflicts by re-invigorating the International Joint Commission and creating a federal-provincial-territorial dispute resolution process designed to ensure fair and sustainable agreements.

For further information:

• Canadian Environmental Law Association, Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy, Ecojustice Canada, Environmental Defence Canada, Great Lakes United, Sierra Club of Canada (2007) Great Lakes Blueprint: A Canadian Vision for Protecting and Restoring the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Ecosystem
• Gordon Water Group of Concerned Scientists and Citizens (2007) Changing the Flow: A Blueprint for Federal Action on Freshwater
• Ecojustice Canada (2006) The Great Lakes Sewage Report Card
• Environmental Defence (2007) Up to the Gills: Pollution in Great Lakes Fish
• Pollution Probe (2006) Towards a Vision and Strategy for Water Management
  in Canada
• Ecojustice Canada (2006) Waterproof 2: Canada's Drinking Water Report Card
• Ecojustice Canada (2004) National Sewage Report Card III

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