Water policy development in Saskatchewan
Submitted by Darrin Qualman, S.E.S. Water Issues Coordinator
Saskatchewan is at a pivotal point regarding which direction it will go to meet its water needs. On the one hand, the province released its "Water Conservation Plan" in early 2007. On the other hand, however, the provincial government recently contributed money for a feasibility study for a proposed multi-billion dollar dam on the North Saskatchewan River-the so-called Highgate Dam.
The province is pursuing these divergent policies against a background of climate change, rapid economic growth, and expanding energy and food production. The moment is critical in terms of determining which direction Saskatchewan will go to meet its future water needs: massive intervention in our watersheds to increase supply, or redirecting water policy to focus on conservation, watershed protection, demand side solutions, and managing human economic initiatives to fit within ecosystem limits.
Saskatchewan Environmental Society (SES) is working to move the province toward progressive water policy solutions. We are:
- engaging with the province's numerous Watershed Advisory Committees (WACs) to help them draft their Source Water Protection Plans, and working with those Committees and their successors to help implement those Protection Plans;
- working with government agencies to prepare a major publication on residential water conservation for Saskatchewan households;
- helping educate citizens about the massive financial and ecological costs of large dams and water diversions (see People are Asking: Does Saskatchewan Need More Dams? at: www.environmentalsociety.ca/issues/water/Dam_Flyer_Web_Final.pdf);
- working with community partners to intervene in the evaluation process of the Highgate Dam (proposed for the North Saskatchewan River near North Battleford);
- partnering with organizations across western Canada to create a Statement of Expectations on Water Protection and Governance-a vehicle for broad sign-on and a tool to build political support for progressive water policy measures and watershed protection; and
- engaging with the Saskatchewan government regarding its planned work on Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and revisions to the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority Act.
SES is working on many fronts: researching and advocating energy conservation and alternative energy production, watershed and source water protection, alternative transportation, forest protection, and pollution reduction. SES members believe that work on these complementary fronts is vital if we are to deal with the multiple threats that now imperil our civilization and if we are to find a way of living sustainably within ecosystem limits. Our work on water issues, generously funded by the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, is making an important and positive difference in Saskatchewan and Canada.
For more information on SES's water program, see: www.environmentalsociety.ca/issues/water.