The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRT) says that if Canada is to ensure the sustainability of its water supply, governments at all levels will need to engage in collaborative models of governance, collaborate in the development and publication of a regularly updated national Water Outlook, the first to be published within two years, and further explore the use of water pricing for its largest user: the natural resource sectors.
NRT’s newest report, Charting a Course: Sustainable Water Use by Canada’s Natural Resource Sectors, suggests steps that Canada should take to value, better manage, and sustain water use by its natural resource sectors. While the report highlights that water use from the natural resource sectors totals 86 per cent of Canada’s overall water use, it also predicts an increase in water intake due of economic growth forecasted in this sector of the Canadian economy.
NRT also recommends several potential avenues of solutions in the areas of water demand forecasts, new policy instruments, information and data improvements and more effective collaborative governance approaches, calling for a better understanding of potential future water demands by the sectors; water policies that are adaptive and responsive to changing conditions; governments to affirm the legitimacy of collaborative water governance approaches; and the development of common measurement techniques for collection of water-quantity data.
In order to provide further guidance to governments, the NRT will be convening experts from across the country at an event to be held on January 12, in Ottawa, to develop a national action plan on how best to implement the recommendations contained in the report.
Download the report here.
