RBC commits $1 M to support First Nations water and ecosystems

Via CNW, June 21, 2013

University of Guelph announces $1 million commitment from RBC Blue Water Project to improve water and biodiversity in First Nations communities

GUELPH, ON, June 21, 2013 /CNW/ – The University of Guelph announced today a $1 million commitment from the RBC Blue Water Project to support teaching and research initiatives in water and ecosystem monitoring, as well as treatment and conservation on First Nations reserves.

“Water contamination is one of the most important health-related environmental problems facing First Nations communities,” said president of the University of Guelph, Alastair Summerlee. “These communities also face serious and increasingly complex threats to ecosystem biodiversity. We have the research and teaching expertise and commitment — and now, thanks to RBC, additional resources to make a difference.”

The new education and research initiative includes student field projects to help them learn more about water and biodiversity. The gift was made through the BetterPlanet Project, the University’s $200-million fundraising campaign for teaching and research in food, environment, health and communities.

RBC Canadian Water Attitudes Study

Via: RBC Blue Water Project

TORONTO, March 22, 2012 — Canadians believe that maintaining our drinking water supply is one of the most important areas for government funding (behind hospitals and tied with schools). Yet, more than 80 per cent feel there is no need for major and immediate investment in their community’s drinking water/wastewater facilities, which they believe to be in good condition, and in need of only minor investment for upkeep. Ironically, more than a third of Canadians (37 per cent) who use municipal water are not very aware of the condition of the water and sewage infrastructure serving their own home.

“Canadians believe in the safety of their drinking water and assume that the infrastructure that provides it is efficient,” says Bob Sandford, Chair, Canadian Partnership Initiative of the UN Water for Life Decade. “This is a national ‘pipe dream’ because in many municipalities, water distribution and sewage pipes can be up to 80 years old and have already reached the end of their service life. In fact, reports have shown there is an $88-billion investment required to repair and build new water infrastructure in communities across Canada.”

According to the fifth annual RBC Canadian Water Attitudes Study, more than three-quarters of respondents (78 per cent) stated their main source of water comes from the municipal water supply. While the majority felt that their municipalities were doing a good job at maintaining current water and sewage systems to prevent breakages in the short term (68 per cent), they were less impressed with the municipalities’ work on upgrading these systems for the long term (61 per cent). However, only a quarter (22 per cent) would be willing to pay through a water bill or taxes into an infrastructure fund to upgrade drinking water/wastewater facilities in their community.

“Investments in water infrastructure maintenance are chronically underfunded and often deferred. This is causing a multitude of issues not immediately associated in the minds of Canadians with water quality and supply,” notes Sandford.

More than half of Canadians (54 per cent) have been inconvenienced by a water related issue in the past two years. A backed-up drain, boil-water warnings, water bans/use restrictions or closed beaches due to poor water quality tell a larger story of the disconnect between Canadians’ confidence in water quality and infrastructure, and the issues that they are actually facing.

“All of these inconveniences highlight the failing infrastructure in many Canadian municipalities. What may seem like minor issues in our own backyards represents a larger problem with regard to our country’s water,” says Sandford. “We have found that Canadians are confident in freshwater as a lasting resource but don’t understand the potential impact inconsistent infrastructure maintenance can have on the supply, quality and cost of water.”

Canadians’ level of confidence in the safety and quality of the country’s drinking water has increased significantly over the past four years to 88 per cent in 2012, up from 81 per cent in 2009. This confidence helps explain why almost half of Canadians (49 per cent) believe freshwater is the country’s most important natural resource, with the exception of Albertans who ranked oil first, followed by fresh water. Eighty-one per cent of the population feels confident that their regions have enough fresh water to meet long-term needs.

And, while respondents reported that they try to conserve water, they also take it for granted. Almost half leave the water running in the kitchen when washing and rinsing dishes (44 per cent), while 12 per cent hose down their driveways, and 14 per cent admit to flushing things down the toilet that should be disposed of in another manner.

Study results in water infograph

Chris Coulter, GlobeScan’s president, adds

“We have been polling on water issues for 25 years. This survey is a tale of romance between Canadians and their treasured water. But there’s a significant gap between romance and reality. We found a troubling lack of awareness not only about water conservation but also the very pressing need for investment in infrastructure. Mobilizing the political will to deal with these issues will be a challenge.”

2012 RBC Canadian Water Attitudes Study: Additional highlights 

Following are additional highlights from the 2012 RBC Canadian Water Attitudes Study, which has tracked Canadians’ perceptions and attitudes towards water quality and conservation since 2008.

Water consumption behaviours

• Two-thirds of Canadians (66 per cent) always turn off the water while brushing their teeth (70 per cent female; 61 per cent male);
• Almost half (48 per cent) avoid watering their lawns in the summer (55 per cent female; 40 per cent male);
• Many Canadians have installed low-flow shower heads (47 per cent) and water-efficient toilets (42 per cent) in their homes;
• Four-in-ten respondents regularly choose tap water over bottled water in restaurants;
• Of the typical sources of drinking water at home, Canadians drink tap water (48 per cent), filtered tap water (27 per cent), water from a large jug/cooler (11 per cent) and individually-sized bottled water (nine per cent).

Top five things people do that upset Canadians the most about water usage

1. Water their lawns when it has just rained, is raining or about to rain (48 per cent)
2. Flush things down the toilet that should be disposed of in another manner (29 per cent)
3. Hose down their driveway (24 per cent)
4. Leave a faucet running in a public place (19 per cent)
5. Use soap or shampoo to bathe in a lake (18 per cent)

Top five things Canadians admit they have knowingly done themselves

1. Left water running in the kitchen when washing and rinsing dishes (44 per cent)
2. Left water on while brushing teeth (42 per cent)
3. Allowed soapy water to run down a storm drain (18 per cent)
4. Flushed things down the toilet that should have been disposed of in another manner (14 per cent)
5. Hosed down driveway (12 per cent)

About the RBC Canadian Water Attitudes Study
These are some of the findings of a GlobeScan poll conducted between February 1-15, 2012, on behalf of RBC and sponsored by the UN Water for Life Decade. A sample of 2,428 adult Canadians from an online panel were interviewed. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The margin of error for a strict probability sample for a sample of this size would be ±2.0 percent, 19 times out of 20. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to multiple sources of error, including, but not limited to sampling error, coverage error and measurement error.

About the RBC Blue Water Project
The RBC Blue Water Project is an innovative, wide-ranging, 10-year global commitment to help protect the world’s most precious natural resource: fresh water. It includes a $50 million philanthropic commitment to organizations that protect watersheds and ensure access to clean drinking water. The RBC Blue Water Project also promotes responsible water use through awareness programs and supports programs that encourage businesses to develop and commercialize innovative solutions to the water issues facing the world. Since 2007, RBC has pledged over $32 million to more than 450 not-for-profit organizations worldwide that protect watersheds or ensure access to clean drinking water. For more information, rbc.com/bluewater.

About Canadian Partnership Initiative of the United Nations Water for Life Decade
The United Nations Water for Life Decade is a globally proclaimed decade for action on water quality and availability issues. While each country in the world will be focusing on its own water quality and availability issues within the larger context of the global fresh water situation, the Canadian initiative has been defined by a nation-wide public and private sector partnership aimed at identifying and responding to regional and national water issues. The United Nations Water for Life initiative in Canada exists to put Canadian water issues into a global context. The Canadian United Nations Water for Life partnership initiative is housed, and has its research home in the Western Watersheds Climate Research Collaborative at the Biogeosciences Institute at the University of Calgary.

About GlobeScan
GlobeScan delivers evidence, insights, and ideas that build value for clients through stronger stakeholder relationships. Uniquely placed at the nexus of reputation, brand, and sustainability, GlobeScan combines rigorous research with creative and challenging thinking to instill trust, drive engagement, and inspire innovation within, around, and beyond our clients’ organizations. For more information, visit www.globescan.com.

Educating the masses: Global Water Intelligence Insight

via: Global Water Intelligence GWI Briefing, 24Nov2011

Educating the masses

The voting down of two municipal outsourcing contracts in the US and Canada this week should not be seen as a victory for the anti-private water brigade. The fact that both projects would have been deliverable for less money using private sector expertise means that municipal leaders simply have to get smarter about educating their voters – and their councilmembers.

The outcome of last Saturday’s referendum in Abbotsford, British Columbia, means that the Can$291 million (US$279 million) design-build-finance-operate project for a 150,000m³/d water treatment plant at Stave Lake – which had been eligible for Can$62 million (US$59 million) of federal funding – will now not proceed as a public-private partnership. The project would cost as much as Can$328 million (US$315 million) under traditional procurement.

Similarly, the decision to reject SouthWest Water’s low bid to operate the new 37,850m³/d surface water treatment plant serving the city of Lodi in California will end up costing the city an extra $90,000 every year.

The success of the Canadian PPP programme has to some extent relied on the fact that the majority of projects have been in sectors such as healthcare, roads and transportation – all of which are controlled at the provincial level. The fact that water and wastewater are under municipal control means that not only are there relatively few precedents in terms of completed PPP projects, but also that the fate of each initiative ultimately lies in the hands of the voters.

Although the outcome of the referendum in Abbotsford is a setback for private water in Canada, it should not be seen as a reaction against private water per se. All projects – irrespective of the sector they fall into – will inevitably generate some form of opposition, and the challenge for municipalities is to get the voters on side to the extent that when the time comes to vote, the result is a fair decision taken by an educated electorate.

Dwelling on private water operators’ imperfect track records – which sowed the initial seeds of doubt in the minds of the authorities in Lodi – is one of the easiest ways to alienate voters. Fears over tariff increases and job security for unionised labourers are also grist to the municipal mill. It seems they do not see the bigger picture. Canada’s public sector pension funds are some of the biggest investors in global infrastructure. Rejecting bankable PPP projects now could come back to haunt dissenting voters in retirement.

This week’s columnist is Ian Elkins, GWI’s editor.

CNW: 2011 RBC Blue Water Project Leadership Grants announced

30 organizations worldwide to share $4 million in funding

TORONTO, Sept. 30, 2011 /CNW/ – RBC today announced its 2011 RBC Blue Water Project Leadership Grant recipients. Thirty organizations, delivering projects in five countries, will share more than $4 million for programs that help protect watersheds and improve access to clean drinking water.

RBC’s 2011 funding will support a range of projects from wetland and shoreline restoration to water quality monitoring and sharing of sustainable water management practices in agricultural regions. More than 180 organizations applied for 2011 Leadership Grants.

“This is our fourth year of evaluating grant proposals, and our panel has never been more impressed with the quality of applications. We really are seeing the best of the world’s best organizations working to protect water,” said Rob de Loë, professor and University Research Chair in Water Policy and Governance, University of Waterloo, and chair of the RBC Blue Water Project Advisory Panel.

The RBC Blue Water Project is a 10-year, $50 million philanthropic commitment to supporting organizations that protect watersheds and ensure access to clean drinking water in Canada and abroad. Since 2007, RBC has committed more than $32 million in single and multi-year grants to 454 organizations, including the 30 announced today.

Earlier in September, RBC also announced a commitment of $1.1 million to ONE DROP’s Project India, a program to educate and improve access to safe drinking water and sanitation in Orissa, one of India’s poorest states. This is part of RBC’s 10-year, $10 million pledge to ONE DROP.

—————————————————————

2011 RBC Blue Water Project Leadership Grants

(Financial references in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.)

NATIONAL (Canada)

Free the Children: A grant of $420,000 will fund the delivery of H2O 4U, a water-focused speaking tour that is offered to middle and high schools across Canada. Speakers will inspire and educate youth about the importance of clean water at home and around the world. An RBC Blue Water Project grant of $300,000 in 2009 helped Free the Children take this tour to over 100 schools.

Tides Canada Initiatives Society / Waterlution: A grant of $200,000 will help Waterlution build on its “Future of Water” workshops, where 18-35 year olds explore critical and complex water management issues. A new “Hub Project” in five regions across Canada will allow workshop participants to put their learnings into action. An RBC Blue Water Project grant of $120,000 in 2008 helped Waterlution provide 40 workshops in 28 communities.

ATLANTIC CANADA

Clean Annapolis River Project: A grant of $36,000 will fund field assessments and restoration plans for watercourse barriers on the Annapolis River and its tributaries. Culverts and dams are preventing the free migration of threatened fish species to critical habitats.

Atlantic Coastal Action Program Cape Breton: A grant of $35,000 will help this organization monitor streams that are affected by development and land use as well as restoring the Salmon River and its tributaries.

QUEBEC

Comité Zone d’Interventions Prioritaires (ZIP) Alma-Jonquière: A grant of $240,000 will fund a community stewardship project, operating in 40 major watersheds in Quebec and expanding into New Brunswick. Volunteers are trained to monitor hundreds of rivers, collecting data for the identification and assessment of developing problems. Students from elementary school and up will be engaged through the Ministry of Education for New Brunswick.

Fondation de la Faune du Quebec: A grant of $200,000 will help this organization develop and share water and habitat conservation best practices and raise awareness about sustainable agricultural practices with more than 500 agricultural producers in southern Quebec.

ONTARIO

Upper Thames River Conservation Authority: A grant of $120,000 will kick-start a Clean Water Project for individual rural farming and non-farming landowners, providing technical assistance and financial incentives for projects that will improve and protect ground and surface water quality, such as decommissioning unused wells, soil erosion control, clean water diversions around barnyards, woodland and wetland enhancement, tree planting, fuel storage and septic system upgrades.

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper (LOW): A $200,000 grant helped LOW launch Swim Guide in June, 2011. Swim Guide is a free smartphone app that helps people locate the closest, cleanest beach for swimming, get directions, view photos, and share their experience through social networks. LOW used an RBC Blue Water Project grant of $200,000 in 2008 to create the Guide.

Georgian Bay Forever: A grant of $100,000 will support the production of the ‘Eastern Georgian Bay Health Report’ for release in the summer of 2012. The report will outline the current conditions of the region from the Severn River to Killarney including ecological conditions, general threats, “hot spots” of special concern, and emerging issues. In addition, the report will identify knowledge gaps, research opportunities and detail local stewardship activities.

Royal Ontario Museum: A $100,000 grant supported the delivery of the museum’s Water: The Exhibit display, providing an informative, dramatic, and educational experience about the importance of water to more than 125,000 visitors in six months.

Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Foundation: A grant of $100,000 will help the George Richardson Park Project reduce levels of phosphorus entering Lake Simcoe with activities such as community tree planting and irrigation activities.

One Change Foundation: A grant of $100,000 will help this organization mobilize Ottawa residents to take action on residential water waste. In collaboration with the City of Ottawa, volunteers and One Change staff will go door to door to distribute simple kits that show people how to detect and repair common toilet leaks.

Hamilton Conservation Foundation: A grant of $90,000 will help the Foundation protect, enhance and restore environmentally significant natural areas and watercourses by educating and working one-on-one with landowners.

Ottawa Riverkeeper: A grant of $75,000 will fund a 28-day, 90 kilometre exploration of crucial water issues in the Ottawa River watershed, in partnership with Canadian Geographic and the Canadian Canoe Foundation. The expedition will be broadcast online and the information collected will be used as part of the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper “Swim Drink Fish” application, also funded by an RBC Blue Water Project grant.

Lower Trent Region Conservation Authority: A grant of $50,000 will support The Healthy Shorelines Clean Water Stewardship Program, which will raise awareness about the ecological health of the watershed through educational outreach to residents and landowners, including shoreline consultations, community workshops, demonstration projects and financial assistance to landowners to implement qualified projects.

MANITOBA

Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation: A grant of $225,000 will fund “Green Banks: Clear Waters”, a program to improve water quality in riparian areas in four south-central Manitoba conservation districts. A new riparian health assessment tool will help community-based watershed groups classify, analyze, and provide riparian health information to their stakeholders. This collaborative project also involves Agriculture Agri-Food Canada, Agri-Environment Service Branch and Manitoba Water Stewardship.

Lake Winnipeg Foundation: A grant of $40,000 will support the Sensitive Habitat Inventory and Mapping (SHIM) project that will provide baseline scientific information for shoreline management.

ALBERTA

Trout Unlimited Canada: A grant of $150,000 will enable this organization to increase riparian health, and improve water quality in the Drywood Creek Watershed system in southwest Alberta. Working in collaboration with Drywood-Yarrow Conservation Partnership and Southwest Alberta Conservation Partnership, agricultural producers will be engaged to protect sensitive riparian areas from cattle grazing by installing protective fencing and off-stream livestock watering systems.

Bow River Basin Council: A grant of $40,000 will help the Council modify an existing computer program so it can simulate the effects of natural ecological processes and land uses on water quality, natural capital values, agricultural lands, municipal revenues, municipal operating costs, and natural areas. Municipalities and watershed management groups will use the information to identify optimum zoning strategies, planning and best practices.

BRITISH COLUMBIA

A.S.T.C. Science World Society: A grant of $300,000 will help Science World add a “Water Story” to its new 35,000 square foot interactive outdoor science park. The Water Story’s exhibits will include a wetland habitat, a cistern to illustrate rainwater capture for gardening and agriculture, an interactive outdoor stream table to demonstrate the benefits and risks of man-made reservoirs and dams, and a water infrastructure display to demonstrate where our water comes from and where it goes.

Trout Unlimited Canada: A grant of $125,000 will help this organization complete a project that will restore and improve access to degraded fish habitats in six streams flowing into Qualicum Bay. RBC provided a grant of $75,000 in 2009 to cover the first phase of the program. This project is a collaboration between Trout Unlimited, Nile Creek Enhancement Society and Vancouver Island University.

Fraser Valley Conservancy: A grant of $120,000 will fund a collaborative project between the Conservancy, the Chilliwack River Action Committee and the City of Abbotsford to enhance and protect over fifty acres of land, restore over ten acres, and increase the biological function and improve wildlife habitats at four sites within the Fraser River Watershed.

Pacific Salmon Foundation: A grant of $70,000 will help the Foundation launch ‘Salmon-Safe B.C.’, a farm certification program to protect Salmon by transforming land management practices To earn Salmon-Safe certification, farms are required to improve irrigation efficiency, reduce run-off and wind erosion, protect wildlife habitat, cultivate ecological compensation areas to enhance native biodiversity, as well as reduce or eliminate the use of harmful pesticides.

UNITED STATES

New York Harbor Foundation: A grant of US$375,000 will help the Foundation improve water quality in the Harbor through the Billion Oysters NYC project, which will plant one billion oysters by 2050. In a healthy marine ecosystem, oysters are a keystone species. Each oyster is a natural water-filtration system, pumping between 20 and 50 gallons of water through its gills each day and extracting algae and phytoplankton for its food.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation: A grant of US$250,000 will fund an ongoing project to restore the Bay’s natural filters, through restoration of wetlands, forested buffers and oysters that filter and absorb pollution. Seventeen million people live in this 64,000 sq. mile watershed. The leading cause of the Bay’s impairment is nitrogen pollution from agriculture and the Foundation will work with individual farmers to implement agricultural best practices to prevent nitrogen pollution.

National Geographic Society: A grant of US$250,000 will provide ongoing support to Freshwater Initiatives including a Freshwater Fellow who delivers briefings, lectures and keynote speeches around the globe, building support for global water issues and inspiring action. RBC’s grant also provides funding for a Fresh Water Editor to further develop the content of the freshwater website.

LightHawk: A grant of US$240,000 will help LightHawk, an organization that helps conservation groups collect scientific data and imagery of land and water resources from the air, develop guidelines for geo-referencing photos and aerial data collection, provide tips for aerial photography and radio telemetry for wildlife studies and encourage key partners and pilots to serve as mentors to others. LightHawk’s network of 180 experienced volunteer pilots donate flights to conservation groups, government agencies and universities in North and Central America.

Great River Greening: A grant of US$100,000 will support an ongoing water quality improvement project in five Minnesota watersheds. This organization works with landowners, community, agriculture, nonprofit and government partners to encourage participation in government agricultural conservation programs that reduce water pollution. It also encourages farmers and farmland owners implement conservation plans to reduce pollution.

Cahaba River Society: A grant of US$35,000 will be directed to programs that improve the conservation of drinking water, and protect the recreational and freshwater biodiversity value of the Cahaba River.

BAHAMAS

Bahamas National Trust: A grant of $300,000 will fund a collaborative project with the Nature Conservancy to reduce threats to sensitive natural areas and increase community stewardship of watersheds and water resources, including training for park managers and guides about the significance of blue holes, a water conservation program for schools throughout the country, and a Geographic Information System database of freshwater resources and threats.

UNITED KINGDOM

Woodland Trust: A grant of $95,000 will support a project to increase awareness of the role of trees in managing water quality and flood management.

BRAZIL

Wildlife Conservation Society: A grant of $100,000 will support a watershed and wildlife restoration project in the Pantanal region of Brazil. This organization works directly with ranchers to convert to more sustainable practices that will result in improved watershed management and healthier and more profitable ranches.

For further information:
Jackie Braden, RBC Brand Communications, 416-974-1724

Veolia Water Launches Interactive Web Site Examining Water’s Economic, Environmental and Societal Impact

Press Release Source: Veolia Water On Wednesday May 18, 2011

CHICAGO, May 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Veolia Water today launched GrowingBlue.com, a data-driven resource that is designed to help municipalities, businesses and consumers gain a better understanding of today’s and tomorrow’s global and local water challenges and best practices. Focused on nature’s essential but often forgotten element – water –GrowingBlue.com uses a variety of tools, including animated maps, infographics and case studies, to provide a visually compelling, user-friendly representation of the current state of water in 180 countries. The site also includes possible water availability scenarios in 2050 and the intrinsic link between water and economic prosperity, societal stability and environmental sustainability.

Urban, domestic, industrial and agricultural sectors worldwide are competing for increasingly limited water supplies, and communities are being forced to reconsider the future of their economic and population growth. Currently, 2.5 billion people (36 percent of the world’s population) live in water-stressed regions, while more than 20 percent of the global GDP is already produced in risky, water-scarce areas. According to new data presented on the GrowingBlue.com site, almost half of the world’s economy and 4.8 billion people, roughly half the world’s expected population, could be located in regions facing water limitations by 2050.

GrowingBlue.com consists of three primary sections:

The Growing Blue™ Tool – A one-of-a-kind summary of the current state of water in 180 countries worldwide, as well as an initial focus on 50 U.S. states and major cities, which translates complex data gathered from a number of resources into a series of animated maps and benchmarks. Facts and figures accompanying each map provide analysis and rank the region’s water stress; municipal, agricultural and industrial water use; and condition of the current water delivery infrastructure. The information, including all data in its original spreadsheet format, is packaged into a PDF for water management officials and government leaders to download and use as a resource.

2050 Scenarios – Presents different economic, social and environmental scenarios that communities and companies worldwide could face in 2050 based on the implementation of sustainable water management practices versus “business as usual” approaches.

Implications of Growth – A candid, data-driven assessment of water’s economic, environmental and social impact that includes real-world examples of the costs, trade-offs and potential solutions to a variety of water challenges.

Veolia Water, in collaboration with Global Water Intelligence, was the main underwriter of the site, in consultation with industry colleagues, scientists, academia and non-governmental organizations, such as Clean Water America Alliance and the International Food Policy Research Institute.

NewYorkTimes BookChat: ‘The Big Thirst’: The Future of Water

New York Times Economix, May 3, 2011 by David Leonhardht

Charles Fishman, a longtime writer for Fast Company magazine, is the author of “The Big Thirst,” a new book on water. He previously wrote “The Wal-Mart Effect,” which won The Financial Times’s award for best business book of 2006. Our conversation follows.

Q. You call the last 100 years “the golden age of water,” at least in the developed world. But you also say the golden age is over. As you told Terry Gross, on “Fresh Air,” “We will not, going forward, have water that has all three of those qualities at the same time: unlimited, unthinkingly inexpensive and safe.” Why not?

Mr. Fishman: We’re spoiled. Well-designed, well-engineered water systems were built across the United States and the developed world 100 years ago. They worked so well that they literally helped make creative economically vibrant cities possible, and healthy. And those water systems were so successful they became invisible — and they remain invisible.

We just assume when we turn on the tap, the water will be there, and that the water system buried in the ground is doing fine.

Both assumptions are out of date. Population growth, economic development (which changes dramatically how much water people want and use), and climate change are all putting pressure on water supplies — not just in places like Las Vegas or California, but in Atlanta, in Florida, in Spain, across China.

We are going to have to move from an era of unconscious water abundance to an era of smart water — using water smartly (why do we water the azaleas, or flush our toilets, with purified drinking water?), and also modernizing and updating our creaky water systems. They were advanced technology 100 years ago. Now those systems struggle to keep up with our needs, and struggle for resources.

Free water — water so cheap you never think about cost when making water use decisions — is a silent disaster. When something is free, the message is: It’s unlimited.

Free water leads to constant waste and misallocation. Farmers and factory managers, hotels and gardeners never consider how much water they are using, and whether they are using it smartly — because the water bill itself sends no signal to be careful. (Half the water used by farmers worldwide is wasted.) There’s no incentive for efficiency.

Cheap water also means that the organizations we rely on to supply water — utilities, irrigation districts — never have the money to modernize, to replace crumbling systems, to find the “next gallon” of water supply.

Meanwhile, the poor pay the highest cost of all — hundreds of millions of people spend half of every day walking to fetch water that usually isn’t even clean. That water is “free” in that they don’t pay for it — except in terms of their health, their children’s health and their economic opportunities.

If you could change one thing that would fix almost everything about water — from better environmental stewardship to getting water to people who don’t have it now — it would be price. We can afford a bit more for our remarkable water system. We’ll be in trouble if we let it slide into obsolescence.

Q. I assume charging more for water would not solve the developing world’s problems. Doesn’t the increasing access to clean water require some other policy change? Or am I missing something?

Mr. Fishman: The key point about the pricing of water is this: People will pay for water that is safe, reliable, convenient, and liberates them from being slaves to walking or standing in line.

I visited a very poor neighborhood in Delhi named Rangpuri Pahadi. The 3,500 residents there live on $100 a month.

They got so frustrated standing in line hours a day at neighborhood pumps for water that didn’t even come at a regular time, they created their own miniature water system. They collected money — “capital” from people whose income is $3 a day — drilled wells, used their own labor to lay pipes from a storage tank to each each family’s shack.

Those who want water pay about one day’s wages a month, and the residents are thrilled. Their “upstart utility” gets them better water than the public standpipe, it comes on schedule, it liberates them to have jobs, liberates their kids to go to school. They pay the equivalent, for a U.S. family, of $150 a month for water. And they did it themselves.

Money isn’t the only solution to water — the cost of the Iraq war, alone, is enough to provide water systems for every village, every person, on Earth. The real problem is human — helping people get a water system they understand, can run and sustain themselves, and have confidence in. That’s harder than it sounds. But the problem isn’t technology, or resources, it’s political will and cultural understanding.

Read the rest of the interview

U of Guelph: Factors facilitating and constraining private water well stewardship

J Environmental Management. 2011 Apr;92(4):1104-14. Epub 2010 Dec 24.
Understanding stewardship behaviour: factors facilitating and constraining private water well stewardship. — Kreutzwiser R, de Loë R, Imgrund K, Conboy MJ, Simpson H, Plummer R.

Department of Geography, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Rd. E., Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.

Abstract

Regulatory frameworks to ensure municipal drinking water safety exist in most North American jurisdictions. However, similar protection is rarely provided to people reliant on water provided from private wells.

In Canada, approximately 4 million people depend on privately owned, domestic wells for their drinking water. Numerous studies have shown that people who rely on private wells for their water supplies are at risk from nitrate and bacterial contamination. Given the fact that regulations relating to private wells tend to be weak or poorly enforced, actions taken by well owners to protect their own drinking water safety are extremely important.

Drawing on one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys of private well owners ever conducted in Canada or elsewhere, this paper explores factors that influence well owner stewardship behaviour. Key behaviours examined included annual testing of well water and inspection of wells, measures to protect water quality, and proper decommissioning of unused wells. A geographically-stratified survey, sent to 4950 well owners in Ontario, Canada, resulted in an effective response rate of 34% (n = 1567).

Logistic regression analyses revealed that motivations for well stewardship behaviours included reassurance, the perception of problems, and knowledge of the environment. Knowing how to perform stewardship behaviours was an important antecedent to action.

Barriers to stewardship included complacency, inconvenience, ignorance, cost, and privacy concerns. To promote stewardship, local initiatives, better educational materials, and enforcement through real estate laws are all required.

Ultimately, drinking water safety for people reliant on private wells is shown to be a responsibility shared by governments and private well owners.

 

Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PMID: 21185114 [PubMed – in process]

CNW: More than 17,000 students in 160 schools across Canada to access free hands-on water education programs in 2011

TORONTO, March 21 /CNW/ – In recognition of World Water Day, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (TD FEF) is announcing a major funding milestone: $250,000 in support of the Safe Drinking Water Foundation’s educational youth programs delivered across Canada since 2005. More than $45,000 has been donated to date in 2011.

“Supporting educational opportunities for youth is a priority for us,” said Mary Desjardins, Executive Director, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (TD FEF). “Through our support of Safe Drinking Water Foundation, we’re helping students better understand both global and local water issues. This is just one example of how we’re helping foster the next generation of environmental leaders.”

Three Safe Drinking Water Foundation (SDWF) programs are offered to elementary and high schools across Canada with support from TD FEF: Operation Water Drop, Operation Water Pollution, and Operation Water Biology. Teachers can access lesson plans, and students are provided with free water-testing kits, allowing them to complete scientific field experiments on local water sources in their community.

More than 58 local TD FEF Chapters across the country support SDWF on an annual basis, helping deliver free educational program kits to more than 90,000 students at 978 schools in 10 provinces and 2 territories across Canada since 1990.

“Our programs are designed to complement local curriculum, encouraging students to get excited about the science behind water-quality issues by participating in interactive, experiential-based learning,” said Nicole Biederbeck, Director of Education of Safe Drinking Water Foundation. “For example, the Operation Water Drop program allows high school students to conduct hands-on tests for 13 different parameters included in the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality, and then compare their results to other treated drinking water supplies and a raw source water sample.”

More than 160 schools have received SDWF educational program kits to date during the 2010-2011 school year. Schools can learn more about requesting a sponsored Operation Water Drop kit online at www.safewater.org, or e-mail info@safewater.org

About TD FEF:

Since 1990, TD FEF has provided more than $54 million in funding to over 19,500 grassroots environment and wildlife projects across Canada. Thousands of donors give to TD FEF on a monthly basis and TD Bank Group contributes in excess of $1 million annually. TD also covers the management costs of running TD FEF, which guarantees 100 per cent of every dollar donated goes directly to funding environment and wildlife projects in the community where the donation was made. For more information on how to donate and get involved in your community, visit www.tdfef.com.

About Safe Drinking Water Foundation:

Safe Drinking Water Foundation is a registered charitable organization, whose purpose is to find treatment and preventative solutions to make surface and ground water safe for human consumption in rural areas of Canada, and the world. With a focus on developing partnerships with rural communities throughout Canada and around the world, SDWF’s intent is to effect change at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels as well as within civil society and industries involved in the protection and production of public water supplies.

CD Howe: Threats to Groundwater Supplies in Canada Require Coordinated Response

Threats to Groundwater Supplies in Canada Require Coordinated Response: C.D. Howe Institute

TORONTO, Feb. 10 /CNW/

– Better oversight of Canada’s groundwater resources is required in the face of numerous challenges, according to a study released today by the C.D. Howe Institute.

In ” Protecting Groundwater: The Invisible and Vital Resource, ” James Bruce, recently chair of the Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panel on Groundwater, assesses present and emerging threats and makes recommendations for better groundwater management in Canada.
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Challenges for groundwater management, the author says, include energy issues, such as the uncertain impact of shale gas “fracking,” slow recharge rates of aquifers, agricultural intensification, and contamination. Canada has yet to experience large-scale over-exploitation of groundwater resources and its groundwater remains of good quality.

Bruce says the time is right, however, for establishing the legal, regulatory and management systems, along with the necessary monitoring provisions, to overcome the threats to groundwater.

Nearly 10 million Canadians, including about 80 percent of the rural population and many small- to medium-sized municipalities, rely on groundwater for their everyday needs. However, Canadians living in large cities and most policymakers tend to ignore groundwater and its management. This asymmetry of interests has resulted in fragmented knowledge of groundwater locations, their quantity, quality, and how groundwater supplies are changing over time in Canada.

Bruce says an effective groundwater management strategy would adhere to five major principles for sustainability. They are: protection from depletion; protection from contamination; ecosystem viability; allocation to maximize groundwater’s contribution to social and economic well-being; and the application of good governance.

Given the challenges that lie ahead, the author concludes, meaningful cooperation by three levels of government, as well as prices that better match the costs of delivering water and wastewater services, and an expansion in data collection efforts are required to sustainably manage Canada’s groundwater.

For the study go to: http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/Backgrounder_136.pdf

For further information:
James P. Bruce, Former Chair, Council of
Canadian Academies Expert Panel on
Groundwater;
Colin Busby, Senior Policy Analyst,

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Interlake Spectator: new report from the Lake Winnipeg Water Summit

Two out of every three nations worldwide will be “water-stressed” by the year 2025, according to the findings of a report being released at the Lake Winnipeg Water Summit this week.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and its Water Innovation Centre brought together creative minds from government, business, civil society and academia for a conference called Lake Winnipeg Basin Summit — Our Lake Our Solutions on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.

The RBC Blue Water Project provided funding to support the “Water and the Future of the Canadian Economy” report, authored by the Innovolve Group. Dr. Anthony Watanabe, President and CEO of Innovolve, was the keynote speaker on Nov. 30 and presented the report. Watanabe discussed Canadian water technology and the long-term productivity of the Canadian economy in regard to water management.
“Water plays a huge role in the economies of many nations worldwide including here in Canada,” said Watanabe, who started the Innovolve Group eight years ago – a leading consulting firm that specializes in sustainability management. “We need to start looking at ways that we can leverage the resources we have globally, but also to improve the management of our own water supply.”

Other key findings of the report include:

—The nexus between water and energy, and between water and water quality, is especially prominent for nations that have a powerful claim on future economic development and for companies looking to stay competitive in a water-scarce world.

—Water’s annual measurable contribution to the Canadian economy ranges from $7.5 billion to $23 billion.

—The global water industry is projected to reach US$1 trillion by 2020.

—Canada has a burgeoning water-technology sector that can be leveraged to offer global solutions to local challenges.

Screening of a new documentary “Choking Lake Winnipeg” was shown to invited guests as part of the conference agenda. Production of the 25-minute video is a partnership project between several community foundations across the Lake Winnipeg watershed, including The Winnipeg Foundation, Community Foundation’s of Canada, and the University of Lethbridge’s Dr. Jim Byrne. Public showings of the video will take place at a later date.   http://www.iisd.org/publications/pub.aspx?pno=1306

2009 Choking Lake Winnipeg  http://scientiaproductions.com/choking/