Canada needs a national water policy to ensure a level playing field in all provinces, says an Edmonton ecologist.
David Schindler, who spoke to a packed house at the University of Saskatchewan April 3, said the federal government has largely abandoned the issue since the 1980s.
“The federal government seems reluctant to take any leadership role, but somebody needs to,” said the University of Alberta professor of ecology. “There are not good connections between science and politicians making water policy.”
Schindler said Canada needs to do a better job managing its water through greenhouse gas control, monitoring and science and establishing regulatory agencies dedicated to enforcing minimum standards for water sharing, use and quality in each province.
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“If the provinces can exceed them, great, but don’t let them go any lower,” he said.
On the agricultural front, he said much of the silt that ends up in rivers could be removed by improved riparian zones around waterways.
He suggested a buffer zone between farm fields and lakes and streams to keep manure and agricultural chemicals from seeping into the water.
Government could offer paid incentives to farmers for these buffers that otherwise offer few returns to farms, he said.
Schindler said farmers need to move away from crops requiring a lot of water and cities should encourage housing developments and industries that use less water.
“Climate change will only exacerbate already marginal conditions for farming,” he said.
Schindler cited studies that forecast a prairie climate warming as much as six degrees by the end of the century and two times more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 2050 and up to four times more by 2100.
A population of 12 million is projected for Alberta by 2100, with a mega city stretching from Calgary to Banff.
Schindler, detailing precipitation records, doubted this century would be as wet as the last one.
He stressed the need for people to reduce their water use and called for improved public education on water issues. He said global warming will mean a longer ice-free season, earlier spring melts, disappearing glaciers and higher evaporation rates.
“We’re not a water-scarce country. It’s a combination of not having a lot of water and having explosive developments and explosive mistreatment of land that is jeopardizing our water in a changing climate,” said Schindler.
He urged government to raise the bar for land reclamation for big projects like Alberta’s oilsands extraction. Schindler advised awarding new projects to companies with good environmental and social track records and to carefully regulate such developments.
He expressed concern with unsustainable oil and gas developments that jeopardize the water supply and change the landscape with little or no reclamation plans in place.
“The energy use is high and it’s using our cleanest fuel to extract something dirty.”
Schindler cited the toxic mix of chemicals in tailings ponds alongside Alberta’s Athabasca River an example of the dangers for waterways from large projects.
