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Tim Marta Associate Director, AAFC-Agri-Environmental Policy Bureau Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture and Water Quality: A Tri-National Collaborative Initiative The Tri-National Collaborative Initiative on Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture and Water Quality originated from an informal agreement between the Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and his counterparts from Mexico and the United States of America to hold a Tri-National Workshop, in Canada, in October 2003. Three Tri-National Working Groups were established to collaborate in the areas of Policy Instruments, Program Delivery (focused on Beneficial Management Practices), and Research and Information relative to environmentally sustainable agriculture and water quality. The work consists of sharing national information and conducting tri-national analysis for the three subject areas. The presentation will review the development, processes, mechanisms and expected results of the Initiative. Merrell-Ann Phare Executive Director/Legal Counsel, Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources Indigenous Peoples and Watershed Management: A Discussion of Rights, Interests and Interesting Approaches Effective and meaningful governance of watersheds involves numerous jurisdictions and their decision-makers, including Indigenous peoples and their governing structures. Achieving cooperation between these jurisdictions is often confounded by the evolving state of recognition of Indigenous governance rights, the relative lack of environment-related Indigenous governance institutions and lack of consensus among watershed governance participants as to the long-term vision for the watershed. This presentation will outline key challenges faced by Indigenous peoples when participating in watershed governance, including policy voids that hinder their involvement, and will suggest possibilities for future cooperative effort. Jim Robinson, Associate Professor, University of Waterloo Best Practices: Australia Australia, the driest inhabited continent, has been experiencing more severe droughts than anticipated based on historical records. Towns and cities all have supply reservoirs that are completely dry or are at lower levels than ever experienced. The policy and program approaches and responses to this are varied. Melbourne has been quite proactive in developing a Water Resources Strategy that effectively provides for significant population growth supported by water use reductions by existing customers. Other areas are considering supply options that can be developed to meet or stave off the crisis. A selection of cases and their anticipated resolution will be discussed, along with suggestions of lessons we might learn. Darren Swanson Project Manager, International Institute for Sustainable Development Prairie Water Strategies: Innovations and Challenges in Strategic and Coordinated Action Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have each articulated a water resources management strategy to help address challenges within their provincial jurisdiction. Additionally, the inter-provincial allocation of water is being managed through the Prairie Provinces Water Board, a federalprovincial partnership. Other individual watershed groups are also playing local and regional planning and management roles. Each jurisdiction is currently grappling with the inherent challenges of this process including leadership, planning, implementation, monitoring, learning and adapting, multi-level coordination and participation. This synthesis report provides an in depth study of the common challenges and innovations in these aspects of water management and the findings constitute a pragmatic toolbox.
Harvey Thorleifson Director, Minnesota Geological Survey Information Systems Required to Ensure Sustainable Groundwater Supply Surface water and groundwater systems are linked, and both human and ecosystem well-being are dependent on the quantity and quality of this hydrological cycle. Groundwater is the key water source for drinking water and irrigation—it is our only usable freshwater reserve, and it sustains wetlands and stream flow. We currently are striving to ensure that our groundwater usage is sustainable which requires sustainable pumping rates, maintenance of water quality, preservation of aquatic environments and integrated surface/groundwater management. Mapping of soils, geology, and groundwater systems in 3D is required to guide groundwater protection, monitoring, and management. Geological mapping therefore is rapidly shifting from the production of paper maps to construction of digital, interactive, 3D models that more fully characterize relevant material properties and provide insights into the capacity and vulnerability of regional groundwater systems. Henry David Venema Director, Sustainable Natural Resources Management, International Institute for Sustainable Development Geographical Analysis of Cumulative Threats to Prairie Water Resources The objective of this study is to gain an integrated perspective on water quality and quantity vulnerabilities across the Canadian prairie provinces. We use environmental indicator methods and GIS techniques to rank and map water quality, water use, and water availability and their compounding effects across the prairie agro-region. A composite index identifies “hotspot” areas of concern with high cumulative stresses. We then compare the hotspot analysis with parallel geographic analyses of water conservation practice, and water conservation policies to illustrate where integrated water resources management will be a policy priority. Lance Yohe Executive Director, Red River Basin Commission Transboundary Watershed Governance: Experiences of the Red River Basin Commission The Red River Basin is a unique geographic area drained by the Red River of the North flowing from the United States into Canada. Multiple state and provincial boundaries as well as the international boundary create complexities for basin watershed strategies. There have been numerous efforts to address transboundary watershed governance issues in the Red River Basin. Some efforts have been within the framework of the two countries and other efforts have focused on the transboundary international issues. Working across all of the boundaries is essential to develop and implement a Red River Basin vision for the future. The Red River Basin Commission (RRBC) has been formed to work cooperatively across all of the boundaries with all levels of government. The RRBC Mission is to create a comprehensive integrated basin-wide vision; to build consensus and commitment to the vision; and to speak with a unified voice for the Red River Basin. To accomplish this mission, the RRBC has developed a Red River Basin (RRB) Natural Resource Framework Plan (NRFP). The NRFP has 13 basin-wide goals that become real in the “Action Agenda” where activities in the basin become the tools that help achieve the vision. In the RRBC experience, governance becomes a function of those who are doing things today and success a function of everyone working to achieve the same overall goals for the benefit of this and the next generation.
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