Sandra Finley

2007-03-25 Water: Lessons For Canada, Report 2, Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy

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Feb 012019
 

Report 2, Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy,  Lessons For Canada    ROSEBanffFinal2 , forum held in Banff.  Scroll down to EXCERPTS.

(Report 1,  Rosenberg Report for Canada       2007-03-14 Water: valuable & important document, Rosenberg Report)  an assessment of the “Water for Life” project of Alberta Environment.)

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Below might explain why today,  Agri-Food Canada is still running a program to further expand the export of water (on-going, at the very least since 1995).

The National Water Supply Expansion Program – – sounds a trifle hubristic!   Like, we’re running out of water.  We’ll just expand the supply.  (And sell it in all those parts of the world where they’re running out.)

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CONNECTED to ROSENBERG REPORTS:  BRIEF UPDATE re NORTH SASKATCHEWAN RIVER.

  1. CLARIFICATION RE TAR SANDS

The Alberta Government Report on the Tar Sands (circulated earlier) noted that studies had not been carried out in relation to the potential use of water from the North Saskatchewan River for planned expansion of the Tar Sands.

It is not that the North Saskatchewan River would be diverted to Fort McMurray.  The text said  “in the industrial heartland” referring to Edmonton which sits on the North Sask River.  The  planned expansion of the Tar Sands development carries with it an expansion in the refining capacity in Edmonton.  The Report noted that there have been no assessments to determine whether there is enough water in the North Saskatchewan River to meet the increased demands for water.  (The Athabasca River in Fort McMurray may not have enough water for the Ft McMurray part of the expansion.)

  1. PROPOSED HIGH GATE DAM    UPDATE:  People banded together and stopped this attempt to create “equity interests in water“.

The NATIONAL Water Supply Expansion Program (one part of which is the “Canada Saskatchewan Water Supply Expansion Programme) (Ag Canada) is the funding source for unsound direction on water management in Saskatchewan.

IF TRUE FOR ONE PROVINCE, people in other provinces should be looking at it, too.

The National WSEP (Ag Canada) was started under the Liberals.  I don’t think it’s a mistake that “The Saskatchewan Water Supply Expansion Program” is the only provincial segment mentioned on the National web-site.

Ralph Goodale, MP from Saskatchewan was Minister of Agriculture and later Minister of Finance.  Red Williams is one of the long-time Liberal backroom boys (he tried unsuccessfully 3 times to get elected).  Red is the President of Agrivision Corporation.  Red’s “Drought-Proofing the Economy” Conference featured pre-recorded big-screen video presentations (personal congratulations to Red) from both the Prime Minister of Canada at the time (Paul Martin) and the Minister of Finance (buddy Ralph Goodale).  Agrivision (Red) receives funding for its work through Government programmes.

Because the Conservatives inherited the NWSEP funding programme from the Liberals, because it is Government money flowing to Liberal interests, once the intolerable aspects of NWSEP are pointed out, the Conservatives may be willing to axe it.

This second Rosenberg Report provides good ammunition for challenging the NWSEP.

(Ag Canada page, link no longervalid  http://www.agr.gc.ca/env/index_e.php?section=h2o&page=sk)

The Rosenberg Report stresses the need for a “holistic” approach.  It documents the lack of data (which we have also found).  There is no data on cumulative human withdrawals from underground aquifers.

“Water Supply Expansion” programmes are a recipe for THE CREATION of future water shortages, if they are done in ignorance of current and un-coordinated cumulative withdrawals.  Not difficult to figure out.  The funding should be stopped.  Instead the money should be used for the data that the Rosenberg Report identifies is missing – so we actually have a clue about what we are doing.

 

Nor is it acceptable that Agriculture Canada is merrily handing out money to groups outside Government to make decisions about the water supply.

Programmes about water DO NOT belong inside the Department of Agriculture.

The Rosenberg Report also identifies that we urgently require a new ethic.

From the experience with what is happening around the North Saskatchewan River, another unacceptable feature of the “due process” that happens when responsibility for water is handed outside Government through funding programmes such as this National Water Supply Expansion Program (Ag Canada):

–  the “public consultation” meetings did not include a presentation of what “the plan” is,

–  nor would it have disclosed WHO is behind the study, except that the audience became unco-operative

–  the public consultation meetings have been carried out by “Partner Investors” in the corporation (Agrivision) from whom I first heard about the High Gate dam proposal.  The Partner Investor conducting the meetings is the accounting firm Myers Norris Penny.

–  this is all done with $370,000 of tax-payers’ money.

 

It is impossible to have due process with the conflicts-of-interest.  We must insist that the Government takes back its responsibility, accountability for, and regulatory function vis-à-vis water in Canada.

The information meeting in North Battleford (on North Sask River, near the site of the proposed High Gate Dam) last week (organized by community interests) was a great get-together, well attended and with new people.

The Annual General Meeting of the group behind the “water storage options” (the proposed High Gate Dam) for the River is this week (Thursday).  People from the community are planning to attend.

There is work on public meetings for Prince Albert – downstream interests that are excluded from consideration in the preliminary feasibility study for the upstream “water storage” options.

People in attendance at a REDA (Regional Economic Development Assoc) meeting were told that Phase 1 of the “water options” study is completed and that the consultants are now moving to Phase 2 (the completed study is due in November).  There are many people who wish to read the Phase 1 Report.

I’ll circulate information on access to the Report when it is known.

This Rosenberg Report, again, gives us what we need to insist that the Governments get it right on water.  As a society and for the future, we cannot afford to get it wrong.

PLEASE ensure that this Report is widely circulated.

In the words of the song, “Raise a little hell.”!!

 

EXCERPTS FROM Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy, Report 2

My sincere thanks to the authors, a report in layperson language!

These excerpts are not necessarily the best fruit in the Report.  I haven’t finished reading it.

“Canada is not as advanced as it might like to believe in terms of the adequacy of its public policies related to water supply and quality assurance.  … an absence of reliable and commonly useful data and widespread examples of inadequate foresight and management of water … gaps …

The longer we wait to make the changes, the more difficult they will be.

“Heavy reliance on surface water storage which dominated water management strategies in the twentieth century created a variety of adverse impacts …

New management paradigms … urgent need for a new water ethic.

“Prairie provinces should control the emissions of greenhouse gases to reduce the warming that causes increased evapotranspiration and glacial loss as well as limit the growth of populations in the dry parts of the Saskatchewan River basin so as not to exacerbate water scarcity

“Snow making uses enormous amounts of water even compared with irrigation … it is highly unlikely that the ski areas of Alberta will be exempt from the kinds of occurrences that continue to plague the Alps.

But read the Report yourself, for an understanding of what we need to be doing.  What I know for sure:  we must INSIST that Governments make informed, intelligent and right decisions.   /Cheers!   Sandra

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Hi Sandra,

Thank you for your call. Here is the Rosenberg Forum summary relating to lessons for Canada and Alberta. You can surmise much of the Saskatchewan concerns by examining the Saskatchewan River Case Study.

Best Wishes,

Bob Sandford

(Note:  Bob is author of “The Wonders of Water“.  He is Chair, United Nations Water for Life Decade, Canadian Partnership Initiative.  The list of his contributions to us doesn’t end there.)

2007-03-14 Water: valuable & important document, Rosenberg Report

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RELATED:

2007-03-25 Water: Lessons For Canada, Report 2, Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy

– – – – – – – – – – –

Rosenberg report to the Government of Alberta, February 2007.

The Rosenberg International Forum (California) was asked by Alberta Environment to evaluate its “Water for Life” strategy.

The final Report:     Alberta_Rosenberg_groundwater_report_final

 

A REPORT is useless if citizens

–   do not know of its existence

–   do not recognize its value

– do not do their own critical analysis of the Report (26 pages)

– don’t use it as a tool to assert protection of water resources over corporate and self-interests.

 

We are disempowered only if we don’t have information – as much and more information than the Government and the lobbyists.   Our numbers vastly exceed theirs.  Pass this along.  Empowered we are formidable.

I know very little in the whole scheme of things.  But WE know a lot, when we pool what we know.  That is all that I do.  Without the excellent input from the excellent people in our network I would be entirely ineffective and ignorant.  Somehow people recognize what I need to work with and send it along.  I obviously can’t work with everything, and overload is a problem.

I just have to thank you for being selective.  But please, don’t assume that I “already know it”, and on that basis hesitate to send in information.

FOR PEOPLE NOT FROM ALBERTA:

–  Alberta can afford what other provinces / territories cannot.  That doesn’t mean that we can’t pick up their Reports and use them.  Think of it as an equalization payment in the form of information!

– “water scarcity” is understood in the Prairie provinces, and is a special concern in the face of climate change.  People in other parts of Canada tend not to be cognizant of the seriousness of the issue in the prairie context.

EXAMPLE OF WHAT SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED:

There is no need to replicate this Rosenberg Report.   It’s cheaper to just say “thanks” to Alberta!!   And play catch-up in different provinces.

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OLD-TIMERS IN OUR NETWORK:  SCROLL PAST THESE DEFINITIONS

1)  Apportionment – half for you, half for me.  Used in relation to water in rivers that flow cross boundary.

2)  Surface water – lakes, ponds, sloughs, rivers, etc.

3)  Ground water – water that is not on the surface of the land.  Includes water in soil and in underground streams and aquifers.  (What’s visible on the surface is duplicated below the surface.)

4)  Potable water – water that is fit, or suitable for drinking.

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READ THE REPORT FOR YOURSELF.

BELOW, I HAVE NOTED SOME OF THE CONNECTIONS IN THE REPORT TO OUR EARLIER WORK.

– I have made no attempt to identify ALL the connections.

———————–

CONNECTIONS, in order from the Report.

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Item 2, page 5:  NEED FOR INCLUSIVE PORTFOLIO OF (water) MANAGEMENT MEASURES

(Rosenberg says that the “Water for Life Strategy” relies heavily on one tool, water conservation, as the means for managing water scarcity.)

page 6, Recommendation:  “Portfolio should include water conservation, storage – both surface and ground, conjunctive use of ground and surface water, water re-use and other appropriate measures.”

I always chuckle when it is recommended that we “re-use” water, as if we don’t already.  The same water, the very same specific molecules, that flow through my body flowed through the body of a little boy visiting a Mayan temple, and through the body of a hippopotamus,  and through a person living in present-day Calgary (upstream of me), a number of cycles ago.  The water that is flushed down the toilet or that exits an industrial site in Calgary flows through me.  This water makes up a very large percentage of my body.

Earlier generations in India, an obvious example, understood their dependence on water.  Their religious or spiritual structure taught them to treat water as sacred.  The Ganges River is worshipped.

I am thankful that some of the previous generations revered the water.

In this context, the title of Alberta’s Report, “Water for Life” is encouraging.  The THOUGHT, at least, seems to be heading in the right direction, recognizing the relationship between life and water.

But in practice, we abuse and use water as a dumping place for toxic, invisible substances.  Many times we have presented the information to show that water treatment plants (from zero treatment, to primary, secondary and tertiary treatment) do not actually have the capability to remove many, if not most, chemicals (pharmaceuticals are chemicals that enter the water supply through urine) (agricultural chemicals enter the water supply through run-off)(industrial chemicals go down the drain, too).

With the thousands of additional chemicals that are pushed on us, there is no hope in hell that we are able to develop water treatment protocols to deal with existing, let alone the new ones.  (old-timers in our network know from the fight to get the use of  “vaporooter” stopped.  It’s on this web-site.)

We have so much goodness already, do we really need “more”?  If we effectively address PREVENTION, and PROTECTION, if we come to understand that WITHOUT CLEAN WATER we don’t survive, that some things ARE actually sacred, we can enter onto a “right” path.

I didn’t read all the Rosenberg Report and so I don’t know to what extent water quality is addressed.   The things we allow to happen to our water supply are, in my mind, criminal behaviour.  When a society takes potable water and, in gargantuan quantities, turns it into unpotable water (as the petroleum industry does with impunity),  we are digging the grave for future generations in this place.

In Saskatchewan, a large percentage of the population is dependent upon the water in the South and North Saskatchewan Rivers, through water storage (e.g. Buffalo Pound) and water pipelines that take the water to communities that are far from the Rivers.  We, like children and teen-agers,  need to understand that limits do exist.  That understanding is also critical to survival.

We have a lot of re-thinking to do about water and our relationship to it.

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Item 4, page 7:                  INTEGRATING RESEARCH AND SCIENCE WITH POLICY-MAKING

The Rosenberg Report (understandably) doesn’t mention the services of the National Water Research Institute (NWRI) in Saskatoon, SK.  Alberta Environment probably has some sort of relationship with the NWRI.  We SHOULD be aware of it.  http://www.nwri.ca/nwri-e.html    (INSERT:  2019: it is a shadow of its former self.  A “search” on this blog will turn up more.)

The NWRI, a publicly-funded Federal science institute,  has been a thorn in my side since the beginning when we were working on the proposed Meridian Dam on the South Sask River.  The NWRI employs a large majority of the water scientists in Canada.  5 years ago the number was 300;  I don’t know the current number.  Because individual provinces don’t have the resources to do their own research on water, the NWRI was established.  Its purpose is to provide the research and science to the Governments in Canada, so that sound decisions can be made.

Sounds good.  But the Director of the Saskatoon site, Fred Wrona, explained a long time ago that the Federal Minister of Environment is his boss.  The NWRI kowtows to political considerations.  They would not get involved in supplying information to the Consultants doing the study for the proposed dam, because it’s a political decision.   This position of the NWRI is not defensible.  When making decisions about Rivers, people need to understand some of the complexity of how Rivers function and the Rivers in the context of climate change.   (There is one other NWRI site in Canada, in Burlington ON).

Re: the Need for Understanding:  Just one example:  there is a naturally-occurring flow of ground water into a river:  the figure generally used is that 50% of the water in a River comes from ground water.  Joe Schmutz from our network explained that there is also a seasonal reverse flow from the River back, to help re-charge the ground water.  It happens when water levels in the River are high, as in spring flooding.  The pressure of the water in the River forces a flow that penetrates the River bank and pushes on out, away from the River.

In a situation of reduced precipitation (drought), there is less and less ground water for crops to draw upon.  And there is less and less water to feed the River.  Now add a large dam “to control spring flooding”.

Downstream from the dam you lose all the re-charge of ground water.   You can think of it like this:  humans talk of building water storage facilities.  But Nature supplies us, free-of-charge, with water storage facilities.  We don’t understand enough to be able to recognize them. …

During periods of high-flow, the River pushes its water into ground water storage.  During periods of low-flow, the water is released back into the River.  For free.

People in Saskatchewan should always remember the figure:  the amount of water in the South Saskatchewan River, measured at Saskatoon, is on average 20% of what it was in 1912.   Already.  Within 20 years, there will be no more summer-time feed of water from glacial melt in the Rocky Mountains because the glaciers will be gone.  They are already past “peak flow”, which is to say that the amount of water coming off the glaciers is already a dwindling amount every year.  Because of the shrinkage in the volume of ice.

Increasing amounts of exposed water will be lost to evaporation.

We need to be very careful in what we are doing.  The decisions we make, as a society MUST be based on sound scientific information.  We must not tolerate foolish, uninformed political decisions based on ignorance and self-interest.

I have challenged Fred Wrona in public about the non-involvement of the NWRI.  Fred is Director of this facility (NWRI) in Saskatoon, SK but he has retired – oops! – moved to Vancouver Island.  There are excellent people at the NWRI.  It is extremely unfortunate that leadership is lacking.  There isn’t the participation of the NWRI “in the field” that there should be.

The publicly-funded research institutions on water in other countries are very active in communities – according to a presenter from Australia at one of the water conferences.

Look at the water problems on First Nations Reservations.  The high levels of disease associated with polluted water.  Engineering companies that receive large amounts of Government money to install ineffective large-scale water treatment facilities on the reserves.  When smaller, less expensive plants are possible and that use more biological-based water treatment.

(Refer to the Safe Drinking Water Foundation’s work.)  It has not been the NWRI that is out there solving the problems.  It is small, motivated individuals on shoe-string budgets.

Citizens should demand that the services of the NWRI be used by Governments and in our communities.  We are paying the salaries and overhead.

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Item 6, page 8:  ISSUES OF GOVERNANCE

Read what the  Rosenberg report to the Government of Alberta has to say about the Alberta Water Council (below).  But first, by way of background, a bit about the Saskatchewan Water Council.

One is a clone of the other, as far as I can see.  I have heard the principals behind the Saskatchewan Water Council refer to the Alberta Water Council.

The Saskatchewan Water Council sounds good.  But it’s really just a fabrication of Agrivision Corporation. In our network we have talked about “industry fronts”, especially in the chemical-biotech arena.  The primary lobby machine for the industry is “CropLife Canada”.  It sets up an industry front called “The Toronto Environmental Coalition”.  The “Environmental Coalition” is nothing more than a web-site and phone number for CropLife, but under which press releases go out, to tell the public about the goodness of the chemicals.  The Saskatchewan Water Council, in similar fashion, is a front for business interests in water.

Agrivision President Red Williams, at the “Drought-Proofing the Economy” conference in Regina a couple of years ago, named his buddy at Agrivision, Wayne Clifton (Engineering Company) to be President of the Sask Water Council.  For a long time it was nothing more than one piece of paper talking about a Sask Water Council.  It has evolved somewhat to now be a group of people with business interests.

From earlier emails,  Agrivision Corporation is, to date, playing a large role in the High Gate dam project.

  1. How current is Agrivision?

Look at page x (roman numeral 10) of the Executive Summary of the Report, “Water Wealth, a 50-year Water Development Plan for Saskatchewan, November 4, 2004. Prepared for Saskatchewan Agrivision Incorp, by Clifton Associates.

(Wayne Clifton is a principal of Agrivision along with Red Williams and Al Scholz. His company, Clifton Associates does engineering work related to “water development” projects.). The Report is prepared through funding by Ag and Ag Food Canada. The map title: “Map B, Potential Dams and Diversions in Saskatchewan”.

This Map B in Agrivision’s 50-year Plan for Saskatchewan is dated 1972. …??”   We tax-payers are paying for research that is a repetition of research written 35 years ago?

That’s a sampling of the picture on the “Saskatchewan Water Council”.  Think Alberta Water Council.  Now here’s what Rosenberg writes under “GOVERNANCE”:

Page 8  ” … It is not yet entirely clear what the relationship of the Alberta Water Council is to the Watershed Councils and to the stewardship groups … ” .

I’d say that Rosenberg is astute.  This is a polite way of “outing” these people, the “Alberta Water Council”.

 

I hope that people in Alberta will insist that the Government boot the Alberta Water Council out.  The paragraph leading up to this statement states the problem if “narrow, private interests” prevail.  Neither in Alberta or Saskatchewan, should the so-called “Water Councils” be allowed to insinuate themselves and their interests into Government.

(note:  The Deputy Minister of Agriculture used to be on the Board of Directors of Agrivision Corporation (SAC Inc. – Sask Agrivision Corporation, Inc).  Perhaps because we drew it to attention so many times to so many people, making the conflict-of-interest known, there appears to have been a major re-structuring.  There is now a small board with no deputy ministers.

(No Longer Valid  http://www.agrivision.ca/investors.htm)

But there are “Partner Investors”.   It is so incestuous and full of conflicts-of-interest.  In a later update on the High Gate Dam proposal for the North Saskatchewan River (the Government disavows responsibility for the preliminary feasibility study and associated process)  you will see the role of accounting firm Myers Norris Penny, a Partner Investor in Agrivision.

Agrivision is the original Corporation behind the proposed High Gate group assembled in North Battleford near where the dam would be.  Myers Norris Penny does the “public consultations”.)

The need to boot-out applies equally to Agrivision Corporation, working with public money.  It is these vehicles that enable Governments to make decisions that are based NOT on scientific research and public input.  The great value of (healthy) democratic government is to protect that upon which we and future generations are dependent for our survival, against the human failure of self-interest (greed).

All citizens need to understand:  THERE ARE NO STAKEHOLDERS when it comes to water.  Only a shared, individual need by all life forms for water.

Whenever ANYONE puts forth the idea that there are stakeholder (as in a “stake” for ownership in a gold rush), we must individually speak up and challenge the idea.  It is not right or sound.   There WILL BE stakeholder interests, IF we don’t challenge the thinking.

Saskatchewanians can use the Rosenberg Report to get business interests ejected out of the decision-making process around water in this province.

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Item 7, page 9:   JURISDICTIONAL AND TRANS-BOUNDARY ISSUES

“Recommendation:  The Water for Life Strategy should recognize that current agreements with provinces and nations may need to be modified and updated in response to changing circumstances.”

Coincidentally, I have an email waiting to go out.  About changing the details of the Water Apportionment Agreements (Alberta-Saskatchewan-Manitoba;  Canada-USA).  Makes one a little nervous if it’s the “narrow self interests” that are behind it.  And if it’s “political decisions” that rule the day.

But I am very happy to see this item re water agreements tabled.  The Prairie Provinces Water Board has jurisdiction.  I note just a couple of things:

–  we, nor the media, pay much attention to the PPWB.  Most people don’t know of its existence.   http://www.mb.ec.gc.ca/water/fa01/index.en.html

–  The Apportionment Agreement is complex.  But the requirement most often cited is that 50% of the natural flow in the River must be passed along from Alberta to Saskatchewan.  And Saskatchewan must pass 50% of the flow along to Manitoba.  The flow is measured at the border.

Except in the case of the South Saskatchewan River.  The South Sask River is over-diverted (demands of City of Calgary, demands of large-scale irrigation in southern Alberta, etc.).  The over-diversion is accommodated by allowing the measurement of water to be taken inside Saskatchewan, after the Red Deer River from Alberta has joined the South Sask River.

But there is a huge push now, along the Red Deer River, for “development”.

The “development” is of water-intensive users.  The attitude is “why shouldn’t we benefit from our River?  Why should “our water” be used to subsidize the irrigators in the south of the Province (of Alberta)?”.

The point I wish to make is that 50% of abundance is plenty for everyone.

But 50% of scarcity is impoverishment.  Percentages work that way.  I don’t pretend to know enough, but when Rosenberg says that the Apportionment agreements “may” need to be updated, I raise my voice in support.

–  I don’t know if the Apportionment Agreements take into account the CONSEQUENCES of the measurement (regulatory) systems.  Use this example:  it is known that the sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions from Tar Sands development are creating acid rain, that lakes (and land) in northern Saskatchewan are dying from it (small pockets are already past “critical load limits”).  If you ask how that can happen in today’s world, you will be told that the emissions are measured.  By independent parties.  It is all done strictly well.  And according to regulation.

People KNOW that the lakes are dying.  And do nothing because the regulations are being met??  How numb-brained can we get?  Especially in the face of planned major expansions of the Tar Sands  – huge more volumes of sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide onto an already-dying environment?  Huge more quantities of water made unpotable.  The regulations are there, but there is no requirement to take into account THE CONSEQUENCES of existing limits, nor THE CONSEQUENCES of the COMBINED contributions to air pollution or water availability.  Do the Apportionment agreements look at the consequences of a decision in Alberta for the delta of the River in Manitoba?  I don’t know.

The requirement to adhere to a measurement of the volume of water is insufficient.

–  presumeably there were water apportionment agreements in the U.S.  The management of their river water has been a disaster.  Today there is litigation over water rights on every River in the U.S. and a national association of lawyers who do nothing but litigation over water rights.  A lack of protection, planning and foresight for water means that individual citizens lose out.  Who can afford the corporate lawyers?

–  it is smart to be involved and knowledgeable.  It is smart to be activist, when it comes to water.

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Item 9, page 10:  DATA ACQUISITION AND MONITORING

“The existing network of groundwater monitoring is insufficient to provide reliable information on water quality and water levels and their variability.”

That is a point we have been challenging “at the microphone” in water meetings when Government people are in attendance.  We do not have the data to know what the withdrawal of water is from underground aquifers, what the aquifer recharge rates are under conditions of climate change.  They have updated their response to the question by asserting that they have very good information and quote the divergence between what’s coming down (precipitation) and what is lost through transevaporation.  Ask “How do you collect the information for combined human withdrawals from the aquifers?”.

The answer is: they don’t have systems in place to do this.

Exactly what Rosenberg tells us.

It is not acceptable to not know what’s happening to levels and quality of water in aquifers, and simultaneously expanding access to aquifer water.  On the quality side, aquifer water is being contaminated by coalbed methane (shallow gas) development.  There are numerous stories about it.  Friends of my parents visited and related how their son has many wells per quarter section.  Now, when they turn on the tap, if ignited, the water appears to be on fire, from the methane that has leaked into the aquifers, as a consequence of the drilling.  The Government turns a blind eye.  No regulation to protect the water.  We know very well that when the oil and gas companies leave, after the well is drained,  they will no longer be delivering a water supply to the farmer, as they now do.  With no potable water, no one will live there in future.

We are in a situation where it’s not a good idea to sit on the back-side watching TV.  Better to get on the phone and raise a little hell.

————-

This is just a sampling of material in the Report.  I only read to page 10.

I am hoping that others will read further and provide comment, if warranted.

We work with many good people in Government.  By sharing our information with them, and vice versa, everyone can do their work better.  Many thanks to Wayne Dybvig for sending the Rosenberg Report.  Wayne was Executive Director of Sask Water when we were working  on the Meridian Dam.  He is Executive Director, Prairie Provinces Water Board.  He is now an employee of the Federal Government, and sits on the International Joint Commission (IJC).

People tend to think of the IJC in relation to the management of the transboundary water in central Canada, the Great Lakes.  But the IJC is responsible along the length of the border between Canada and the U.S.

Wayne is involved in negotiations that affect transboundary water in western Canada, for example, the Milk River that flows out of Alberta south into the Missouri system which then joins the Mississippi.

Cheers!

Sandra

 

2006-12-05 Water: now in the hands of Dept Industry and Resources. & book, Eau Canada: The Future of Canada’s Water by Karen Bakker.

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My tongue has a swear word on it.

CONTENTS

  1.   COMMENTS
  2.   THE BOOK
  3.   CORPORATE GOVERNMENT AND WATER

==================

  1.   COMMENTS

It appears to be a new and insidious development.  If it’s here in Saskatchewan, you probably have it, too.

In Saskatchewan water has fallen under SWA (Saskatchewan Watershed Authority), Department of Environment and Sask Water which reports to (curious arrangement) the Minister of Labour.

It seems that the DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY AND RESOURCES, the “lead provincial government agency responsible for development of the province’s resource sector” is now taking a role in the development of our water resource.  See below, (2)  CORPORATE GOVERNMENT AND WATER.

The “development” of water resources and infrastructure in Canada is being done in a worrisome way.  You may be interested in this new publication.  It is important to be informed.  When it comes to water there is no alternative.

“Attached is a discount flier that you can use to get 20% – 50% off on the paperback/hardback (for a very reasonable paperback price of

$23.96) … proceeds from the book royalties are being donated to the Canadian Waterkeeper Alliance.”

Best wishes,

Sandra

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(2)  THE BOOK     1 Eau Canada flier

From the Water List-serv: 

. . . .   I’m looking forward to reading this… packed with many different perspectives from people with a great knowledge of water issues. 

I am particularly interested in exploring the chapters on pricing, commons or commodity and thirsty neighbours… among many. 

Very timely release of this book Karen, coincides with the recent great increase in discussion on water issues.

—————

/Eau Canada: The future of Canada’s water /has just been published by UBC Press.

Endorsed by Maude Barlow, David Boyd, and David Cameron, it contains contributions from 28 people working on water issues across Canada, including environmental lawyers, activists, former government officials, scientists, and academics.

Targeted at a general audience, the book analyzes the key weaknesses in Canadian water governance, and explores potential solutions. Highlights include a foreword by David Schindler, and chapters debunking Canada’s myth of water abundance, debating water privatization and water markets, and analysing the water exports issue. Other chapters explore a broad range of issues, including indigenous people’s water rights, demand management, water pricing, water ethics, and legal and governance reform. Short chapters and lots of great graphics make this an accessible book for non-technical readers and specialists alike.

========================

(2)  CORPORATE GOVERNMENT AND WATER

John Ralston Saul says that we’ve moved from a form of government called “democratic” to a different system.  The other system of governance, the one we are now in, is corporate government.

What is your interpretation of this, the final line of a brochure for a “Water Quality Roundtable”:

  • “How do we ensure that industry is a key partner at the table?”

Then read the following description of “Communities of Tomorrow”, the “partners” putting on the Water Quality Round Table.  John Ralston Saul is right.  It motivates me to add ten more people to our network.  It is well past the time to reclaim our government.  Democracy is absolutely dependent upon the active participation of citizens. A critical mass of informed people.

A Government Department – the “lead provincial government agency responsible for development of the province’s resource sector” – and the resource they are talking about is water.   (INSERT:  2019 – – Agri-Food Canada has the honor.)

http://www.communitiesoftomorrow.ca/

“A department of the Government of Canada, Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) works to strengthen Western Canada’s economy and advance the interests of the West in national economic policy. Its programs and services support three strategic directions: Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Communities.

The NRC (National Research Council) has extensive expertise in research designed for industrial and municipal applications and has established networks and partnerships with industry. The NRC’s fast-growing Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure Research (CSIR) in Regina has a close working relationship with the City of Regina staff and the University of Regina’s Centre for Sustainable Communities.

The City of Regina brings to the partnership the opportunity to use Regina as a “living laboratory” to test and demonstrate new technologies and management practices. Regina has long had a reputation as an environmental leader and has a commitment to maintaining this reputation.

The University of Regina strives to be a global leader in sustainability.    (INSERT:  with the Petroleum Technology Research Centre, PTRC).

To this end, the University has established the Centre for Sustainable Communities (CSC). By encouraging multidisciplinary support across many faculties and sectors, CSC builds an integrated approach to all aspects of sustainable development.

Saskatchewan Industry and Resources (SIR) coordinates, develops, promotes and implements policies and programs of the Government of Saskatchewan that strengthen and diversify the Saskatchewan economy.  SIR is the lead provincial government agency responsible for advancing economic growth and development of the province’s resource sector.”   (INSERT:  which includes water.)

========================

Email from:

Sandra Finley

Index

 Bottled, For-Profit Extraction, Export, Commodification, Index  No Responses »
Jan 312019
 

THE TAKING OF WATER FOR PROFIT

CANADA, STOP WATER EXPORT

WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU HAVE?

A “SCROLL THROUGH” INDEX TO ANSWERS

IN CONTINUOUS UPDATE  

ORIGIN OF INDEX:   2019-01-28   The “Strathcona Resolution” B.C. 

 

If the subject of your question about Taking Water for Export is not in the Index, use the Comments at bottom to say so.  Thanks!

As at August 24, 2019 – – rudimentary beginning.

=++========+=++++=

ABORIGINAL TITLE, WATER . . .  see First Nations   (Aboriginal title is an important issue in the protection of water.)

ABSURDITY OF WATER EXPORT FOR PROFIT . . .   see GEROLSTEINER, the export of water from Gerolstein, Germany to Canada.

ACTIONS  . . .   Priority:   efforts to secure

. . .  Passing of “Strathcona Resolution” at 2019 UBCM Convention, Sept 23 to 27, Vancouver, BC

AGRI-FOOD CANADA,  programme to grow the export of water from Canada,  includes funding and support for companies.  The market in China is targeted for growth   . . .  see under GOVERNMENT, FEDERAL

ALLOCATION, OVER-ALLOCATION OF WATER

. . .  2019-01-28   Taking of water for export. Director Brenda Leigh re “First in Time, First in Rights” policy

. . . 2011-10-01   Cash Flow Buying and selling priceless water, from Alberta Views.  Comprehensive article.

TOPICS ADDRESSED:   First In Time, First In Right (FITFIR),  Water licenses, Cash-for-water-rights, CrossIron Mills, Nestle, Okotoks, Sheep River, Bob Sandford, UN Water for Life Decade, Cdn Myth of limitless abundant water,  Water market, Irrigation Districts, some History, over-allocation

what else do we have re Allocation of Licenses?  It’s an important issue.  And need to counter use of the word “Rights”.

APLUC (Arrowsmith Parks & Land Use Council)  . . . see also under  ORGANIZATIONS   (contact info)

. . .  2019-02-05  From APLUC re  Strathcona Resolution, letter of support sent to . . .  for use as a Template  (re BC Municipal Councillors attending Sept UBCM Convention?)

. . .   2019-02-01 From APLUC: “… with respect to the Water Sustainability Act it is unclear who establishes and monitors “Critical Environmental Flows” in BC waters. Can you clarify this for us? Can you also identify what streams and rivers have had critical environmental flows established?” etc.

RE-do, or do more.  The following are cross-referenced in the INDEX to the above Letter from APLUC, along with a critical question asked, if there is one.   But they are about LAWS & REGULATIONS.  

  • “Critical Environmental Flows”
  • Water Sustainability Act
  • Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Program
  • “Community Watershed”
  • Forest Practices Board
  • Watershed Assessment and Management of Hydrologic and Geomorphic Risk in the Forest Sector, Draft Professional Practice Guidelines
  • Laws
  • French Creek

Feb 7/19:  With thanks to David Todtman who wrote:

APLUC sent a letter late in the fall of 2018 to the Ministry of Forests requesting a moratorium on logging in the Mt. Arrowsmith watershed. That letter cited concerns regarding recent large clear cuts. The letter expressed concern that the last study of the watershed was 18 years ago. The letter noted there have been great pressures on the watershed in the last 18 years including logging, residential development, and climate change. If I recall correctly the letter also called for a new study of the watershed given these factors.

The current APLUC letter is the response of the Ministry to the December ALPUC letter. The Ministry’s letter can be summed up briefly thus: ‘thank you for your interest.’

The discussion between APLUC and the Ministry relates to some things regarding (Stop Water Export). . . .  The APLUC letter indicates the distinction between ground water and surface water is blurry at best. I was also interested to read the part about the Sunshine Coast logging moratorium and court activity.

AQUIFER WATER  . . .  see WATER,  GROUND

ARAL SEA  . . .  see  DESTINATION, Look where we’re headed

. . .  also in

2019-01-24 Export of Water, for profit. Economic argument. “You cannot give up something that gives you income”. In a system that measures success by expansion – – every year “more”, always “growth” in sales. . . . When the product is water? (Submission to Strathcona District Board)

AVICC  (Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities) . . .  see under GOVERNMENT, REGIONAL

BAKKER, KAREN    – –  https://karenbakker.org/

Director of the Program on Water Governance at the University of British Columbia.

. . . also see BOOKS & REPORTS  (Eau Canada;  also, Bakker’s work is cited in the Rosenberg Reports)

BARLOW, MAUDE   . . . also see BOOKS

Without all that Maude Barlow is, and has done, we would not have a hope in Hades of achieving our goals for the protection of water.

Personally,  I’d like to dedicate our combined efforts to dismantle the Agri-Food Canada Program for the Export of Water, to Maude.  Here is TO MAUDE!

BOOKLET, BOOKMARK . . . see COMMUNICATIONS

BOOKS & REPORTS

Boiling Point,  by Maude Barlow

From Richard:  I might add that Brenda Leigh – the Strathcona Regional director who put together the water motion – said she got lots of information on water that helped her when preparing the motion,  from Maude Barlow’s excellent book  that we sold her at a CoC booth last Labour Day.

State of our Aquifers 2017,  Groundwater Levels Edition, booklet from the Regional District of Nanaimo,    www.dwwp.ca

Water Policy and Governance in Canada – Oct 31 2016

David Todtman, in contact with Diane Dupont,  re Valuation of Water, Feb 3/19:

Diane:   As you will see, surface water has been more the focus of this work than ground water.  

David:   Even though our immediate concern is ground water, the abstract suggests it will help us learn more about issues related to how value is assigned to water. 

by Steven Renzetti (Editor), Diane P. Dupont (Editor)
(Too expensive to buy.  Internet search on the title.  There are on-line excerpts and ways to order excerpts.)
Adopts the viewpoints of diverse disciplines, including economics, geography, political science, law, engineering, public health, environmental studies, and social justice vis-a-vis water.

From the Back Cover

This book provides an insightful and critical assessment of the state of Canadian water governance and policy. It adopts a multidisciplinary variety of perspectives and considers local, basin, provincial and national scales. Canada’s leading authorities from the social sciences, life and natural sciences address pressing water issues in a non-technical language, making them accessible to a wide audience.

Even though Canada is seen as a water-rich country, with 7% of the world’s reliable flow of freshwater and many of the world’s largest rivers, the country nevertheless faces a number of significant water-related challenges, stemming in part from supply-demand imbalances but also a range of water quality issues. Against the backdrop of a water policy landscape that has changed significantly in recent years, this book therefore seeks to examine water-related issues that are not only important for the future of Canadian water management but also provide insights into transboundary management, non-market valuation of water, decentralized governance methods, the growing importance of the role of First Nations peoples, and other topics in water management that are vital to many jurisdictions globally. The book also presents forward-looking approaches such as resilience theory and geomatics to shed light on emerging water issues.

Researchers, students and those directly involved in the management of Canadian waters will find this book a valuable source of insight. In addition, this book will appeal to policy analysts, people concerned about Canadian water resources specifically as well as global water issues.

To the Last Drop, author Michael Keating,   Toronto : Macmillan of Canada, c1986.  . . .  see also CORRUPTION  (Free Trade Deals, Simon Reisman & Brian Mulroney)

Keating was from Windsor, ON, became a G&M reporter on the environment.  Internationally respected,  Did good reporting on the Berger Commission – –

(ASIDE:   remember Tom Berger who set a high water mark for consultation with indigenous people,  Northerners  over the MacKenzie Valley pipeline – – Berger travelled for months in the Arctic with interpreters.  Was determined that these people needed to provide input, and they could not do it if the Commission did not travel out to them.)

To the Last Drop established Keating as an authority – the book is considered “a classic” in its field.   I have remained curious about whatever happened to Keating.  He continued to be involved in the issue of pollution of the Great Lakes, but there’s not a whole lot about him.  Might have died?

I did track him down, Meridian Dam battle – – would have been about 2001  – – to talk to him about the Old Boys’ Club meeting that Simon Reisman spoke at.  It’s written about in the book.   Damning.  I must have given away my copy of the book in one of the moves.  (Reisman – – Chief Negotiator for FTA, he and Mulroney responsible for last minute removal of the Exemption for Water in the Trade Agreement)

Keating was unwilling to talk about any of it.   He had taken  a bad hit with the publication of To the Last Drop from the powers-that-be.   As you can imagine.   What Reisman had to say to “the old boys” was shocking, given his role in the FTA.   The man negotiating on Canada’s behalf, Mulroney’s appointee, who claimed that Canada HAD to give up the exemption on water at the 11th hour, in order to get an Agreement, or it would have been game over for the FTA – – telling the Big Money Boys how much money there was to be made by selling Canadian water to the U.S.   The plan has been, since BEFORE the first Trade Deal with the U.S.,  that Big Money interests in Canada and in the U.S. would get access to the water in Canada, to sell it for profit,  just like oil and gas.  Reisman and Mulroney lied when they said that they “had to” give up the exemption on water, otherwise the U.S. would not have signed the deal.  (See also CORRUPTION).

TO THE LAST DROP: CANADA AND THE WORLD’S WATER CRISIS.

Copies in the York University Library, also U Manitoba, Australia., ….

https://umanitoba.ca/outreach/cm/docs/cmarchive/vol15no2/revtothelastdrop.html 

It is a paradox. Canada has one-seventh of the world’s fresh water and yet we are fast approaching a time when we will have a shortage of safe, clean water. On every side we seem intent on destroying this natural resource through carelessness or outright disregard for the environment. The discouraging part is that the pattern shows no sign of changing. We continue to speed toward a national and global water crisis.

Keating has explored the question of diminishing water resources in great detail. An award-winning environmental writer for The Globe and Mail, he brings to this study a thorough knowledge of his topic, plus the ability to write in a way non-specialists will appreciate. Early chapters in To the Last Drop examine the nature of the pollution that affects our water and the extent to which Canadian sources have been damaged. The central part of the book focuses on specific aspects, such as pollution of the Great Lakes, acid rain, the effects of climate change, water diversion schemes, and ownership questions. Keating brings his study to a close by looking at what has been done to deal with the problem, and what remains to be done. His conclusion: we must act quickly or face serious consequences.

To The Last Drop has a great deal to offer to students. The author has provided background information hut has kept the book accessible for students by avoiding a strong scientific focus. The broad topic coverage will make the book useful in many situations. Appendices offer up-to-date statistics and sources for more information. In short, the book will make a valuable addition to a collection. Recommended.

Graham A.Draper, Longstaff S.S., Richmond Hill, Ont.

Continuing under “BOOKS & REPORTS“:

ABORIGINAL TITLE IS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT.  Two very good books,  from under  FIRST NATIONS, JURISDICTION AND ACTIVISM:

“The Haida Gwaii Lesson; A Strategic Playbook for Indigenous Sovereignty”, by Mark Dowie, 2017.

2004-11-18  Supreme Court of Canada decision, Haida Nation v. British Columbia, Terri-Lynn Williams, Haida Gwaii lawyer, sucessfully argued aboriginal title, tree farm licenses.

Pages 110-116 are specifically related to the court case, Haida Nation v. British Columbia. The book itself is an eye-opener for Canadians.

 Page 162:  Under “WHEREAS  b.   (EBM)  Ecosystem Based Management – – is talked about elsewhere in the book, too,  I believe.

“Unsettling Canada, A National Wake-up Call”, by Arthur Manuel & Grand Chief Ronald Derrickson   . . . 

an engaging page-turner, for every Canadian to read.

2007-03-14  Water: valuable & important document, Rosenberg Report

2007-03-25  Water: Lessons For Canada, Report 2, Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy

2006-12-05   BOOK, Eau Canada: The Future of Canada’s Water by Karen Bakker &  Water: now in the hands of Dept Industry and Resources.

 

 

BOTTLED WATER INDUSTRY   

     . . .   see also EXPORT;      . . .   see also LOCATIONS

General . . .

Largest bottlers in the world, who are they? . . .

Plants in Canada  . . .  see LOCATIONS

Water Bottlers’ Association (yes B.C., but Canada ?)  . . .

Weakness, single use plastics, public awareness, . . .

 

“BOWSER STRATEGY”  (Stop Ocean Sewage – SOS) . . .     Effective use of Signs (See under Communications)

BRIBERY? COLLUSION? EXCHANGE OF FAVOURS?  . . . see CORRUPTION

CAMPAIGNS  . . .  see ACTIONS

“CASH FOR WATER RIGHTS”,  Alberta example, CrossIron Mills . . .  see ALLOCATION OF WATER . . .

CHINA, DEMAND FOR BOTTLED WATER

. . .

. . .  Also See Under GOVERNMENT, FEDERAL  (Agri-food Canada’s, “CONCLUSION”)

CLIMATE BREAK-DOWN  . . .

. . .   2019-02-19   Implications for export of water,  Opinion Poll Results on Climate Change, David Todtman

. . .  (To be done – quote the sources.  Look under “Locations”)  Drought and forest fires in B.C., associated with climate change and lowered water levels, fueled the anger around Hope, B.C. over the taking of water for profit by Nestle.

. . .  Area wells running dry in summer, associations with climate change, helped drive the resistance that shut down the attempted water bottling at Merville.  Subsequently the “Strathcona Resolution” was passed, calling on the Government to stop the taking of groundwater for export.

. . .  In Ontario, (Wellington – Aberfoyle)  it was again drought that coalesced the opposition against for-profit taking of water.  It led to a provincial moratorium.

(MORATORIUMS . . .  see under LAWS & REGULATIONS, ENFORCEMENT, COURT RULINGS)

COLONIZING FACTOR  . . .

COMMODIFICATION OF WATER . . . see ALLOCATION OF WATER

COMMUNICATIONS

. . . Booklet

. . . Bookmark Template, Stop Water Export   (like a business card, to hand out)   . . .  see TEMPLATES

. . . Email

. . . FaceBook

. . .  Instagram

. . . Presentations

. . .  Signs (Stop Water Export/Water is Life).   Don’t put out without accompanying literature.

. . . Twitter

. . . Website

. . . Zine

“COMMUNITY WATERSHED”

see under APLUC, Letter to Government, Feb 2019.

 ” . . .  we are uncertain what particular protection measures are accorded to such watersheds.   . . .  if moratoria are not acceptable to the provincial government or the courts, what other avenues are open to communities or citizens who wish to protect their drinking water and ecosystems other than the Acts and regulations cited in your letter?”

CONFERENCE ON WATER

CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST . . .  see CORRUPTION

CORRUPTION

Corporate Mapping Project    Corporate mapping for water export?

Judge (2016) says it’s misfeasance,  “Kafkaesque Abuse of Power in Former B.C. Government”  (Vander Zalm)

2016-06-17 Water export, Vander Zalm, Four reports, 1 CanLii Comment: B.C. government guilty of misfeasance in long-running water dispute; B.C. businessman waged a two-decade legal battle against his province. A judge finally sided with him; Province appeals damning water export case; Premier Bill Vander Zalm and the Water War Crimes

From the other side (California),  the L.A. Times:

1991-03-22 Raining on Water Importer’s Parade: Drought: The latest series of storms may have doused chances that a Santa Barbara firm will get a large contract to import water from Fanny Bay, Vancouver Island, Canada.

2018-01-22 Video:  TimberWest and Professional Reliance, Great Bear Rainforest, Tavish Campbell.

  EBM, corruption through de-regulation and Orwellian new speak.

Track down Tavish.  Get an update.  Connect.

The “Strathcona Resolution” is a continuation of the battle for control of the water in Canada.   CORRUPTION is a constant factor.  For our purposes,  how about if we limit the “history” to the period starting in about 1980.

Free Trade Agreements

REMOVAL of the EXEMPTION on WATER that was in the Draft copy of the FTA (Free Trade Agreement)

Information scattered.  When time permits,  I’ll make one consolidated posting on the ROLE OF SIMON REISMAN AND BRIAN MULRONEY.  For now,

2017-05-18 Trade Deals (NAFTA), “Infrastructure spending” and Water shortages in the U.S. Simon Reisman, Michael Keating “Water to the Last Drop”. Canada – U.S. War over Water.

      see also under BOOKS, To the Last Drop – – – more details.

2019-01-24 Export of Water, for profit. Economic argument. “You cannot give up something that gives you income”. In a system that measures success by expansion – – every year “more”, always “growth” in sales. When the product is water? (Submission to Strathcona District Board)

 

“CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS”  . . .   see Letter to Government, Feb 1/19, under APLUC,  “who establishes and monitors “Critical Environmental Flows”?

COURT RULINGS . . . see under LAWS 

CUMBERLAND REGIONAL DISTRICT . . . see COMOX VALLEY REGIONAL DISTRICT (CVRD) under GOVERNMENT, REGIONAL

DESTINATION, Look where we’re headed  . . .

“DRINKING WATER AND WATERSHED PROTECTION PROGRAM”  (Regional District)

monitoring water quality in various rivers and streams in this part of Vancouver Island. . . . However, this monitoring program may not be thorough enough to measure the specific effects of logging and other land altering activities in the upper watershed.

see under APLUC, Letter to Government, Feb. 2019

DIVERSION OF WATER ROBS SALISH SEA OF FRESH WATER  (Aral Sea, Salton Sea). . .     Related to:

2019-01-24 Export of Water, for profit. Economic argument. “You cannot give up something that gives you income”. In a system that measures success by expansion – – every year “more”, always “growth” in sales. When the product is water? (Submission to Strathcona District Board)

 

ECONOMICS of  WATER EXPORT  . . . see  2019-01-24 Export of Water, for profit. Economic argument. “You cannot give up something that gives you income”. In a system that measures success by expansion – – every year “more”, always “growth” in sales. When the product is water? (Submission to Strathcona District Board)

EBM  (ECOSYSTEM BASED MANAGEMENT)

. . . see under CORRUPTION,  video re Timber West.

. . .  see also under BOOKS, “The Haida Gwaii Lesson; A Strategic Playbook for Indigenous Sovereignty”

Page 162:  Under “WHEREAS  b.   (EBM)  Ecosystem Based Management – – is talked about elsewhere in the book, too,  I believe.

ELECTIONS,  see also GOVERNMENTS

Federal, October 21, 2019 . . .

Provincial General Elections, B.C. . . . every four years, 3rd Saturday in October

EMPOWERMENT . . . (STRATEGIES)

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Water export robs the Salish Sea and its estuaries, of fresh water inflow  . . .  see DIVERSION OF WATER ROBS SALISH SEA OF FRESH WATER  (Aral Sea, Salton Sea)

(Research on rising salinity?  On thermal changes?  Impact on fisheries)

Shoreline chemistry is very complicated

Add – – –

ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS, WHAT ARE THEY?  WHO PAYS FOR THEM?

EXEMPTION on TRADE IN WATER  . . . see CORRUPTION, FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS

EXPORT

. . .  see also HISTORY

. . . see also DIVERSION OF WATER ROBS SALISH SEA OF FRESH WATER  (Aral Sea, Salton Sea)

. . . see also CORRUPTION

To where?  . . .

From which provinces, territories?  . . .

Dollar value of Export Market  . . .  (BOTTLED WATER INDUSTRY)

Volume of Water Exported  . . .

Broken down by:

bottled water export

bulk export via pipeline

bulk export via tanker

FANNY BAY  . . .  see LOCATIONS

FEDERAL ELECTION   . . .  see ELECTIONS

FEES FOR WATER BOTTLERS  . . .  (Ontario, 2018) Fees for bottlers of water jump from $3.71 to $503.71 per  (from 2018-11-19 Layoffs at Nestlé’s Aberfoyle water bottling plant, Guelph Mercury

 

FIRST IN TIME FIRST IN RIGHT (FITFIR), ALLOCATION OF WATER  . . .   see  ALLOCATION OF WATER

FIRST NATIONS, JURISDICTION AND ACTIVISM, protection of land, water and forests

Haida Gwaii . . .   (Reference:  2004-11-18 Supreme Court of Canada decision, Haida Nation v. British Columbia, Terri-Lynn Williams, Haida Gwaii lawyer, sucessfully argued aboriginal title, tree farm licenses.

Reference, book “The Haida Gwaii Lesson; A Strategic Playbook for Indigenous Sovereignty”, by Mark Dowie, 2017.

Pages 110-116 are specifically related to the court case, Haida Nation v. British Columbia. The book itself is an eye-opener for Canadians.

Reference, an engaging page-turner, Aboriginal Title:

“Unsettling Canada, A National Wake-up Call”, by Arthur Manuel & Grand Chief Ronald Derrickson   . . .   p. 17 (STRATEGIES, #11, #15)

2018-11-24   Six Nations and Wellington Water Watchers join forces at Nestle protest, Guelph Today

EXCERPT:

“We’re going to greet them with love anyway because our relatives that make bad decisions need to be welcomed into the community that is making the right ones,” said indigenous activist Eryn Wise of Seeding Sovereignty.

“As indigenous peoples, even though we know it’s not our jobs to be emotional support folks for everyone else, we end up doing it because we are caretakers, we are land defenders and we are people that are going to save this planet,” Wise said.

FOREST PRACTICES BOARD  . . .  see under APLUC,  Letter to Government, Feb 2019

FREE TRADE DEALS, A FACTOR  . . .

. . .  see in   2019-01-24 Export of Water, for profit. Economic argument. “You cannot give up something that gives you income”. In a system that measures success by expansion – – every year “more”, always “growth” in sales. When the product is water? (Submission to Strathcona District Board)

FRENCH CREEK  . . .  see under APLUC, Letter to Government, Feb 2019

GEROLSTEINER, carbonated natural mineral water,  Theatre of the Absurd, the export of water from Gerolstein, Germany to Canada.  . . .  (to be done)

GIBBONS, BRUCE . . .  instrumental in the on-going battle,  see under MERVILLE

GISBORNE LAKE, NFLD   export of lake water by tanker (heavy protest stopped it) . . .  see under HISTORY

GLACIERS

. . .  2014-05-22  Island glaciers will disappear in 25 years, scientist says, Times Colonist

. . .  2018-12-15   Submission, International Trade, re Export of Water.

. . .   Decline (melting of)  . . .  (“Dear Prof Smith”)

. . .    Deceptive labeling by industry  . . . (BOTTLED WATER INDUSTRY)

GOOD WORKS PROTECTING WATER, e.g.restoration of salmon-spawn rivers, UNDONE BY GOVERNMENTS  . . .

GOVERNANCE

Program on Water Governance at the University of British Columbia.   See also . . . Bakker, Karen

 

GOVERNMENTS 

. . .  see also LAWS & REGULATIONS, ENFORCEMENT, COURT RULINGS

. . .  see also  GOOD WORKS PROTECTING WATER, UNDONE BY GOVERNMENT

 

GOVERNMENT, FEDERAL

Role in promoting, funding, support for expansion of water export for profit  . . .

International Trade Canada,  role  . . .

Agri-food Canada, role of  . . .

2018-12-15   Submission, International Trade, re Export of Water.

Documents egregious process, role of Agri-Food Canada, Members of Standing Committee International Trade,  Who the submission is made to, and updates.

 

GOVERNMENT, PROVINCIAL, B.C.

Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD)

West Coast Natural Resource Region

Larry Barr, Acting Regional Executive Director

(More to be added)

 

GOVERNMENT, REGIONAL DISTRICTS

UBCM  (Union of B.C. Municipalities)

List of Regional Districts, B.C.

AVICC  (Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities)

https://avicc.ca/  

(see also under STRATHCONA RESOLUTION to AVICC)

. . .  is the longest established area association under the umbrella of the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM).   The area association was established in 1950. It now has a membership of 53 municipalities and regional districts that stretches from the North Coast Regional District down to the tip of Vancouver Island and includes Powell River, the Sunshine Coast, the Central Coast and the North Coast. The Association deals with issues and concerns that affect large urban areas to small rural communities.

The Annual General Meeting & Convention held in April each year provides members with the opportunity to bring forward issues and concerns from their individual communities through resolutions and debates. . . . AVICC members are encouraged to use this website to keep members quickly updated on issues.

AGM April 12 – 14, 2019 in Powell River, B.C.

Deadline for members to submit a resolution for AGM:  Feb 7, 2019

COMOX VALLEY REGIONAL DISTRICT (CVRD) . . . did they pass a Water Export Resolution?  Inquiry sent Jan 17,   and left message Jesse Ketler, Director, T: 250-336-2291; C: 250-898-9085

STRATHCONA REGIONAL DISTRICT . . .  see STRATHCONA

 

GROUND WATER  . . . see

(sometimes referred to as “aquifers”, but it includes more than that)

(as distinct from “surface” water which includes man-made reservoirs.)

. . . see also BOOKS,  in the Rosenberg Reports.

RDN booklet “State of the Aquifers”  . . .

Groundwater shortage in California . . . referenced in presentation to RDN, Jan 8, 2019, by Deborah McKinley

https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2019/01/11/california-farmer-borrego-springs-groundwater-pumping-cuts/2169848002/

https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/nestle-gets-away-pumping-californias-water-next-nothing/

Trend Lines, aquifer levels   . . .

HAIDA GWAII  . . .  see under FIRST NATIONS, HAIDA GWAII (Aboriginal  Title)

HISTORY

. . .  see also BOOKS & REPORTS

. . .  see also MEDIA REPORTS   (chronological  order)

. . . see also article under ALLOCATION OF WATER

2019-08 Water, some History: The determination to make water accessible for money-making goes back to the first trade deal with the U.S.

1991, hundred-million-dollar tanker export from Fanny Bay to U.S.    . . .  court case still in process, 2016

2016-06-17 Water export, Vander Zalm: B.C. government guilty of misfeasance in long-running water dispute; B.C. businessman waged a two-decade legal battle against his province. A judge finally sided with him; Province appeals damning water export case; Premier Bill Vander Zalm and the Water War Crimes 

And from the other side (California),  L.A. Times:

1991-03-22 Raining on Water Importer’s Parade: Drought: The latest series of storms may have doused chances that a Santa Barbara firm will get a large contract to import water from Fanny Bay, Vancouver Island, Canada.

1999, Gisborne Lake, Newfoundland  . . .  bulk export of water by tanker from remote Gisborne Lake in Newfoundland was almost a national issue.  Newfoundland sets out what it saw as the Federal Responsibility on the issue.  1999-10-02   Newfoundland agrees to ban water export, with Ottawa’s help, CBC

2005-11-11 Americans will be AGGRESSIVELY after our Water, Peter Lougheed, Former Premier of Alberta. In the Globe & Mail

2006-12-05 Water: now in the hands of Dept Industry and Resources.

2011-03-30   Plans to export water, though unpopular, keep springing up

2018-11-24 Six Nations and Wellington Water Watchers join forces at Nestle protest, Guelph Today

EXCERPT:

“We’re going to greet them with love anyway because our relatives that make bad decisions need to be welcomed into the community that is making the right ones,” said indigenous activist Eryn Wise of Seeding Sovereignty.

“As indigenous peoples, even though we know it’s not our jobs to be emotional support folks for everyone else, we end up doing it because we are caretakers, we are land defenders and we are people that are going to save this planet,” Wise said.

HOPE, BC   Nestle water bottling plant, see LOCATIONS

HOW TO SUPPLY DRINKING WATER WHERE LOCAL WATER ISN’T DRINKABLE?  . . .

“IN WHOSE INTEREST?”  . . .

INFRASTRUCTURE COSTS  . . .  what are they?   Who pays for them?

INTERNATIONAL TRADE CANADA . . .  see under GOVERNMENT, FEDERAL

IRRIGATION . . .  see ALLOCATION OF WATER

JURISDICTION for protection of land, water and forests

. . .  see ? LAW  ? GOVERNANCE ?

. . .  see also FIRST NATIONS, HAIDA GWAII (Aboriginal  Title)

LAKE ATHABASCA, on the border between Saskatchewan and the NorthWest Territories,

export of water through a system of dams to the U.S..  . . . see in   2019-01-24 Export of Water, for profit. Economic argument. “You cannot give up something that gives you income”. In a system that measures success by expansion – – every year “more”, always “growth” in sales. When the product is water? (Submission to Strathcona District Board)

 

LAWS & REGULATIONS, ENFORCEMENT, COURT RULINGS

GENERAL and then, by JURISDICTION (Federal, Provincial, Territorial)

to be added:  see under APLUC

GENERAL

What would good legislation look like? . . .

See also . . .  this heading (LAWS), under  BY JURISDICTION, “B.C.”

See also . . .   STRATHCONA RESOLUTION

See also . . .  under BOOKS,  Water Policy and Governance in Canada

– – – – – – – – – – – – –
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2019
Subject: we are looking for someone to answer questions about draft legislation

TO:   Dale Dewhurst

Athabasca University

Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Legislative Drafting

Program Co-Director

We are a group from Parksville-Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island.  

Your program came up in a web search on “training for lawyers who draft legislation”. 

Would you be able to help us find someone we could talk with? 

We would like some ideas – – what might legislation to stop the export of water from Canada look like?

It’s a public interest matter:

Opposition to the taking of water for bottling north of Courtenay on Vancouver Island led to consternation in the Parksville-Qualicum Beach area.  We discovered there are already established water bottling operations here.  The water goes to the domestic, American, and overseas markets.   . . .  

Might you be able to help us find someone with whom we could have a conversation:  if there was to be legislation to prohibit the export of water from Canada, what might it look like?   . . .

– – – – – – – –

From: Dale Dewhurst [mailto:daled  < @ >athabascau.ca]
Sent: January 11, 2019
Subject: Re: we are looking for someone to answer questions about draft legislation

Hello Sandra:

You’ve asked a very big question.  All legislation must be within the particular governments jurisdiction (i.e. either Federal or provincial).  Then the particular structure of legislation will vary depending upon its purposes, goals, and chosen enforcement mechanisms.

I think that, as a starting point, you may want to have a look at: https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/

CanLII – Canada (Federal)

www.canlii.org

for the law societies members of the. Federation of Law Societies of Canada

The link above is to the Federal legislation but once you get to the page you’ll see that all of the provinces are listed on the left hand side.  You can start a broad search at the top of any of the pages; or, you can look at particular legislation by going into the “Statutes and Regulations” link. 

For example, if you click into “British Columbia”, then “Statutes and Regulations”, then search “water” in the document text search box, you get 100s of results relating to legislation, cases, and other sources of legal information.  Then, by reading a few of them, you can begin narrowing your search by adding extra search terms and/or limiting the kinds of documents being searched.

I think this will give you the best start.  Also, by going through some of the general searches you should also get several ideas for things you may want to follow up on that you hadn’t originally considered.

Good luck,  Dale

Dale Dewhurst, J.D., LL.M.
Associate Professor
Legal Studies & Legislative Drafting
http://lgst.athabascau.ca/
Co-Director, Post Baccalaureate Diploma in Legislative Drafting
http://www.athabascau.ca/pbdld/
Skype: dale.dewhurst
Athabasca University
1 University Drive
Athabasca, AB, T9S 3A3
Direct, North America: 1-800-785-9346 FREE
Direct, Edmonton Area: 780-424-1486

 

LAWS, EXPERIENCE, ENFORCEMENT,  BY JURISDICTION

 . . . see also FIRST NATIONS  (Aboriginal Title to Lands and Water)

Federal

B.C. 

. . .  2019-03-15  B.C.:  COURT RULES  WATER IS A COMMODITY  

. . .  2018-11-13 The growing pains of updating BC’s water law, Watershed Sentinel, by Gavin MacRae

. . .  see  STRATHCONA RESOLUTION

. . .  Judge says it’s malfeasance,  (Vander Zalm Government).  I don’t understand – – – no charges?

2016-06-17 Water export, Vander Zalm, Four reports, 1 CanLii Comment: B.C. government guilty of misfeasance in long-running water dispute; B.C. businessman waged a two-decade legal battle against his province. A judge finally sided with him; Province appeals damning water export case; Premier Bill Vander Zalm and the Water War Crimes

How to define “water”?  What if you add a mineral or vitamin?

Alberta  . . .

Saskatchewan   . . .

Manitoba . . .

Ontario . . . 

The battle over bottling has been raging for some time. Looking as though the Provincial moratorium on the taking of water for bottling will be extended “until the start of 2020”.

Nestle is making permanent lay-offs.   Factors:  a large jump in the Ontario fees for water.  Drought in Ontario helped focus the opposition to Nestle’s water bottling business.

First Nations Youth were the organizers of an event against  Nestle.  The Wellington Water Watchers joined them.    2018-11-24 Six Nations and Wellington Water Watchers join forces at Nestle protest, Guelph Today

Chuckle:

“We’re going to greet them with love anyway because our relatives that make bad decisions need to be welcomed into the community that is making the right ones,” said indigenous activist Eryn Wise of Seeding Sovereignty.

2018-11-09 Province (Ontario) seeks to extend moratorium on bottled water taking permits, Guelph Mercury Tribune

 2018-11-19 Layoffs at Nestlé’s Aberfoyle water bottling plant, Guelph Mercury

Quebec. . .

New Brunswick . . .

P.E.I . . .

Nova Scotia . . .

Newfoundland & Labrador . . . (HISTORICAL)

1999, Gisborne Lake, Newfoundland  . . .  bulk export of water by tanker from remote Gisborne Lake in Newfoundland was almost a national issue.  Newfoundland sets out what it saw as the Federal

Responsibility on the issue.  1999-10-02   Newfoundland agrees to ban water export, with Ottawa’s help, CBC

Yukon Territory . . .

Northwest Territories . . .

Nunavut . . .

LEIGH, BRENDA  . . .   (do)

LICENSES TO TAKE WATER . . . see  ALLOCATION OF

LOCAL HAULERS  . . . the Strathcona Resolution does not apply to them.

. . . see   (Template)  Strathcona Resolution, letter of support sent to . . .

. . . see

LOCATIONS, WATER BOTTLING PLANTS

MANUEL, ARTHUR . . . see FIRST NATIONS

MALFEASANCE (VANDER ZALM GOVERNMENT,  Judge, 2016) . . . see CORRUPTION, WATER EXPORT

MAPS

Aquifers (Groundwater) in Regional District Nanaimo . . . booklet not yet available, booklet not yet available, p.____

Export Markets, bottled water from Canada  . . .  booklet not yet available, p.1

Salish Sea . . . see Cover of Booklet

MARKETING OF BOTTLED WATER  . . .  (BOTTLED WATER INDUSTRY)

Negating plastic bottles  . . .

MEDIA REPORTS, chronological from most recent

Needs to be updated:

2018-11-24   Six Nations and Wellington Water Watchers join forces at Nestle protest, Guelph Today

2018-11-24  Six Nations and Wellington Water Watchers join forces at Nestle protest, Guelph Today 

2018-10-29   Water: pushing to block for-profit water extraction and bottling, right across Vancouver Island

2018-08-28   Comox Valley Regional District defeats Merville water bottling operation application  (Jolene Rudisuela)

2016-09-30    A Look into Nestle’s Controversial Water Bottling Business in Canada, from Vice.com

2016-06-17 Water export, Vander Zalm, Four reports, 1 CanLii Comment: B.C. government guilty of misfeasance in long-running water dispute; B.C. businessman waged a two-decade legal battle against his province. A judge finally sided with him; Province appeals damning water export case; Premier Bill Vander Zalm and the Water War Crimes 

2015-02-04  Rezoning approved for Harrison Mills water bottling plant, Agassiz Harrison Observer, Fraser Valley Regional District

2011-03-30    Plans to export water, though unpopular, keep springing up

2005-11-11     Americans will be AGGRESSIVELY after our Water, Peter Lougheed, Former Premier of Alberta. In the Globe & Mail

2005-11-06 Lack of water hinders growth, Baltimore Sun

Good article from the U.S. offers insights still relevant in 2019

1999-10-02    Newfoundland agrees to ban water export, with Ottawa’s help, CBC

1991-03-22 Raining on Water Importer’s Parade: Drought: The latest series of storms may have doused chances that a Santa Barbara firm will get a large contract to import water from Fanny Bay, Vancouver Island, Canada.

 

MERIDIAN DAM, proposed for the South Saskatchewan River, defeated.   See in  2019-01-24 Export of Water, for profit. Economic argument. “You cannot give up something that gives you income”. In a system that measures success by expansion – – every year “more”, always “growth” in sales. When the product is water? (Submission to Strathcona District Board)

 

MERVILLE

. . .  see also in MEDIA REPORTS

. . .  local opposition stopped a bottling plant from proceeding. The opposition was the genesis of “The Strathcona Resolution”.

. . .  Merville resident BRUCE GIBBONS formed the Merville Water Watchers  (see ORGANIZATIONS), and is currently (Jan 2019) doing presentations about “the Strathcona Resolution”  to the members of AVICC.   Bruce is a critical leader in the effort to protect groundwater from export.  See at Strathcona Resolution

As explained by Director Brenda Leigh, in  2019-01-28 Taking of water for export. Director Brenda Leigh re “First in Time, First in Rights” policy

They tried to portray that my Resolution was all about a particular Zoning application in Merville when, in fact, I was alerted to the BC Water Sustainability Act’s “First in Time, First in Rights” policy through my learning about the Merville problem.  My resolution is about not allowing ANY commercial water bottling and/or bulk water sales to tap into our groundwater.  It was not about any specific application and, in fact, . . . told him that we at Strathcona do not have any water bottling applications received to date and that this Resolution is about the bigger issue of protection of Canadian water sources.

MORATORIUMS ON WATER EXPORT . . . see under LAWS & REGULATIONS, ENFORCEMENT, COURT RULINGS

MYTH, CANADIAN,  OF LIMITLESS ABUNDANT WATER   . . .  see in article under ALLOCATION OF WATER

‘NATURAL GLACIAL WATERS”, Fanny Bay, Rosewall Creek . . . booklet not yet available, p.16  (BOTTLED WATER INDUSTRY, David’s input)

NEWSPAPER REPORTS  . . .  see MEDIA REPORTS

NESTLE

. . .  see also PETITIONS  (New Zealand, California, . . .

. . . see also under ALLOCATION OF WATER . . .

Also at LOCATIONS of bottled water plants.

Canadian headquarters in Aberfoyle, ON

2016-09-30 A Look into Nestle’s Controversial Water Bottling Business in Canada, from Vice.com

  • Kawkawa Lake, District of Hope, BC
  • Hillsburgh, Ontario
  • Wellington, Ontario

2018-11-19 Layoffs at Nestlé’s Aberfoyle water bottling plant, Guelph Mercury

See also under “Ontario”  under LEGISLATION WATER EXPORT, EXPERIENCE

2018-11-24 Six Nations and Wellington Water Watchers join forces at Nestle protest, Guelph Today

2016-09-19 & 2018-04-12 Chilliwack chapter (RE Hope, BC) wants Nestle to “stop profiting from water; & Water campaigners hold action at Nestlé, the Hope Standard.

OKOTOKS, AB  limits on population growth because of water . . .  see in article under ALLOCATION OF WATER

ORGANIZATIONS  (non-governmental)  WE ARE CONNECTED WITH

OVER-ALLOCATION OF WATER . . . see article under ALLOCATION OF WATER

PETITIONS, STOP WATER EXPORT, paper copy, on-line petitions

2018-2019 On-line Petition (Change.org) STOP water bottlers from taking up to 9 million litres per year from aquifer. New Zealand. Chinese-owned Cloud Ocean Water

California, Nestle  . . .  https://act.couragecampaign.org/sign/NestleDrought/

PLASTIC BOTTLES, SINGLE USE PLASTIC . . .

PLAYERS, THE LARGEST CORPORATIONS IN WATER EXPORT . . .

POWER IMBALANCE, Islanders : Money Makers  . . .

PROCESS, IN AN ECONOMY THAT CONCENTRATES WEALTH  . . .

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

PROHIBITIONS AGAINST WATER EXPORT  . . .  (PATTERN)

PRESTON MANNING  . . .  see “SINGLE ISSUE POLITICS”

REBUTTAL to “STORE WINTER RAIN WATER IN AQUIFERS, FOR SUMMERTIME USE (DROUGHT)  . . .

RECOMMENDATIONS  . . .  see WHAT IS NEEDED

REFORM PARTY . . . see  SINGLE ISSUE POLITICS

RENTS (a term used by Governments in relation to the taking of water) . . .  see ALLOCATION OF WATER

RIGHTS TO WATER . . . see ALLOCATION OF WATER

ROSENBERG REPORTS . . .  see under BOOKS & REPORTS

ROSEWALL CREEK  . . .  see LOCATIONS

ROYALTIES . . . see ALLOCATION OF WATER

SALISH SEA

Book “Views of the Salish Sea”, Howard Stewart   . . .

Inland Sea  . . .

Map  . . .  cover of the booklet

Organizations to protect   . . .  see under  ORGANIZATIONS

 Population of 8 million people plus industry  . . .

Water flowing in  . . .

SALTON SEA, California

2019-01-24 Export of Water, for profit. Economic argument. “You cannot give up something that gives you income”. In a system that measures success by expansion – – every year “more”, always “growth” in sales. When the product is water? (Submission to Strathcona District Board)

SANDFORD, BOB

. . .  see in article under ALLOCATION OF WATER

. . . see under BOOKS & REPORTS, Rosenberg

SHEEP RIVER, AB, related to Okotoks water cap  . . . see in article under ALLOCATION OF WATER

“SINGLE ISSUE POLITICS”  (Does water qualify?)  . . .

SLOGANS . . .

SMEs (Small & Medium Enterprise), role of  . . .

STRATEGIES     what has worked in similar undertakings?

. . .  click on the link

. . .

. . .  see also,  FIRST NATIONS, Haida Gwaii Lessonbook  and Unsettling Canada

STRATHCONA RESOLUTION      2019-01-24   Last revision:  Backgrounder,  Feb 6/19

. . .  At the link:   Wording,  Vote time-line, Support for the Resolution outside the Strathcona Regional District,  Local newspaper coverage

SUBMISSION TO INTERNATIONAL TRADE CANADA STANDING COMMITTEE,  water export,  Dec 2018  . . .   see under    GOVERNMENT, FEDERAL

SUCCESSES  . . .

SUPPLY, WHERE DOES THE WATER COME FROM, FOR EXPORT?  . . .

SUPPORT THE STRATHCONA RESOLUTION

Letter to your local councils and RDN board to encourage them to support the Resolution,

(Template)  Strathcona Resolution, letter of support sent to . . .

SURFACE WATER

. . .  need a good on-line reference for Canada??

. . .  see under BOOKS, Water Policy and Governance in Canada

SUSTAINABILITY  . . .

TEMPLATES

Bookmark, Stop Water Export   (like a business card, to hand out)   . . .

Letter to your local councils and RDN board to encourage them to support the Resolution:

(Template)  Strathcona Resolution, letter of support sent to . . .

TIMBER WEST . . .  see under CORRUPTION

TRADE DEALS  . . .  see FREE TRADE DEALS

TREND LINES   . . .   see  GROUND WATER (aquifer) levels

UBCM  (Union of B.C. Municipalities)  . . .  see under GOVERNMENT, REGIONAL DISTRICTS

UN WATER FOR LIFE  . . . see article under ALLOCATION OF WATER

“UNSETTLING CANADA, A NATIONAL WAKE-UP CALL”  . . .   see FIRST NATIONS (Aboriginal Title, Land and Water);  also under BOOKS

VALUATION OF WATER

. . .  see under BOOKS – –  Water Policy & Governance in Canada.  

. . .  see ALLOCATION OF WATER

VANDER ZALM & WATER EXPORT (“Judge, 2016, says “misfeasance”)  . . . see CORRUPTION, WATER EXPORT

VOLUNTEERS, WE NEED PEOPLE TO  . . .

WATER   (Freshwater, not salt water)

GROUND WATER  (as distinct from “surface” water)

  • Aquifer
  • Saturated soil?
  • Springs
  • Underground rivers and streams

POTABLE WATER (safe to drink and to use for food preparation)

SURFACE WATER

  • Rivers, streams, creeks
  • Lakes, ponds, sloughs, reservoirs, dugouts

 

WATER BOTTLING PLANTS IN CANADA  . . .  see LOCATIONS

WATER LICENSES . . .  see ALLOCATION OF WATER

WATER MARKET . . .  see ALLOCATION OF WATER

WATERSHED:  PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE GUIDELINES  . . .  see WATERSHED ASSESSMENT 

“WATERSHED ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF HYDROLOGIC AND GEOMORPHIC RISK IN THE FOREST SECTOR,  PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE GUIDELINES,  DRAFT”  (Feb 2019)  related to investigation of community watersheds by the Forest Practices Board

. . .  see  under APLUC, Letter to Government Feb. 2019

WATER SUSTAINABILITY ACT,  B.C.

. . .  see under APLUC, Letter to Government, Feb 2019:

Water Sustainability Act is concerned only with flows, and not water quality. Is this correct? Are there other provincial acts that deal with water quality for ecological protection?

WELLINGTON (Ont.) WATER WATCHERS  . . .  see LOCATIONS

WHAT IS NEEDED  . . .

WHISKEY CREEK  . . .  see LOCATIONS

WHOLISTIC APPROACH  . . .

ZINE . . . see COMMUNICATIONS

 

2015-02-04 Rezoning approved for Harrison Mills water bottling plant, Agassiz Harrison Observer, Fraser Valley Regional District

 Bottled, For-Profit Extraction, Export, Commodification  No Responses »
Jan 312019
 

Return to INDEX

FVRD adopted the zoning amendment bylaw at last Board meeting

The clean and clear waters of Harrison Mills will soon be a bottled commodity.

The Fraser Valley Regional District Board adopted the zoning amendment bylaw at their last Board meeting January 27. The bylaw allows Christopher’s Springs, owned by Harrison Mills resident Chris Lepine, to build a small bottling plant on a portion of his property.

Summer Dhillon is an informal advocate for Harrison Mills. She has been working over the last few years to get a tourism board organized, including starting a website and working on signage for the community. Dhillon sees the plant as a “very positive” business for Harrison Mills.

“It will help for job creation. It’s forward thinking,” says Dhillon. “There’s great potential in what he (Lepine) wants to do.”

Area C director Alec Niemi agrees that the plant will be a good thing for the neighbourhood.

“We’re pleased to have the business in the community,” says Niemi.

He says while it will be a “small enterprise,” it will use a resource readily available in Harrison Mills.

“If we’ve got anything besides gravel here, it’s water.”

Niemi says there was no discussion on the matter at the FVRD as it was simply the adoption of the bylaw which already passed first, second and third reading in June and September, 2014.

There was certainly discussion at that time. Wendy Bales was the Area C director then and she says there was ample discussion in the FVRD and at a public hearing held on the matter.

While Bales is not opposed to industry in general, she is concerned with the location of the water bottling plant and the cumulative impact it could have in the long term.

“It’s a prime tourist area and a protected habitat,” says Bales.

She also worries about the precedent this zoning amendment bylaw sets. A question on the subject of precedent was raised at the public hearing. According to a staff report on August 28 from FVRD planner Carl Isaak, the staff response was that the approval of one application does not set a precedent.

“Each zoning application is considered by the FVRD on its own merits. The Official Community Plan for an area does set out policies and guides decision-making for rezoning applications. Water licences are also specific to a type of use and not all existing licenses would allow industrial bottling use of water, many are for domestic uses only.”

The property, located at 14400 Chehalis forest Service Road, has a spring that flows into Echo Creek, which flows into Elbow Creek then into the Harrison River. Lepine already draws water that he sells in bulk. The rezoning allows him to build a plant on the property with the plan to create jobs locally. While the license allows them to extract 25,000 gallons per day, FVRD staff reports indicate the machinery being used is designed to process a maximum of 3,300 gallons per day.

2019-01-24 The Strathcona Resolution

 Water Merville (Strathcona, Campbell River, Comox)  No Responses »
Jan 312019
 

Return to INDEX

(“BACKGROUND” revised May 23/19)

RESOLUTION TITLE:   “LICENSING OF GROUNDWATER EXTRACTION FOR COMMERCIAL BOTTLING/BULK WATER EXPORT SALES”

Authored by:  Strathcona Director, Brenda Leigh

Passed:  unanimously, by Strathcona Regional District, January 24, 2019.

Strathcona is a member of a larger regional body:  AVICC, the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (the “coastal communities” are on the Sunshine Coast, across the Salish Sea from Vancouver Island, on the mainland – – the other shore of the Salish Sea).

Passed:  unanimously, by the AVICC AGM, April 12 – 14, in Powell River.

Would apply to:   all B.C., if it is supported through the next higher levels of government.

Scroll down to clarifications and local news reports (very bottom).

Accepted, May 20, for:  UBCM AGENDA  (Union of BC Municipalities)

UBCM meets Monday, September 23 – Friday, September 27, in  Vancouver.

= = = = = = = = =

“The Strathcona Resolution”, as submitted to AVICC, Feb. 6, 2019:

SRD SPONSORED RESOLUTION

 

GROUNDWATER EXTRACTION

WHEREAS water is an essential resource upon which all life, including all ecosystems and all local communities depend,

AND WHEREAS water is a public heritage and a public trust for present and future generations and access to water must not be compromised by commercial operations relating to commercial water bottling or commercial bulk water exports,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Premier of British Columbia and the Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Operations and Rural Development be requested to immediately cease the licencing and extraction of groundwater for commercial water bottling and/or bulk water exports from aquifers.

 

BACKGROUND

This issue was brought to light by residents of the Sackville Road area of Merville, BC where a proposed commercial groundwater application was given a “conditional” licence by the BC Government, subject to the applicant obtaining zoning approval for a bottling plant on his property in Merville.  As water in this rural community is supplied through groundwater wells, the local community felt great unease about the potential impact of this commercial operation upon their wells.  Following the public hearing for rezoning for the water bottling plant, the Comox Valley Regional District soundly defeated the proposal.  The proponent then asked the BC Government for an amendment to the issued conditional licence to allow commercial groundwater extraction in Sackville Road to proceed if the applicant was permitted to set up the water bottling plant in the adjacent Strathcona Regional District.

The science of hydrogeology is not definitive.  Aquifers, by their very nature, are hidden resources subject to interpretation of subjective indicators.  The best the experts can do is estimate the volume of the aquifer and the recharge rate. The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNROD) has maintained a groundwater monitoring well #351 in Aquifer 408.  Groundwater levels in this well have shown a stable or slightly increasing trend I the 14-year monitoring period.  This would indicate that current extraction does not exceed recharge.  Is one monitoring well sufficient to determine recharge rates for this aquifer?  Given the reality of climate change and projected hotter, drier summers for Vancouver Island, will this trend continue or will increased extraction through additional licences exceed the recharge rate; putting the existing community which relies on their domestic groundwater wells in jeopardy and, perhaps, also jeopardizing the future of the aquifer?

Clearly, the Provincial Government needs to review the Water Sustainability Act and regulations to cease the issuance of groundwater extraction licences for commercial water bottling and bulk water exports until a careful and comprehensive study of the capacity of aquifer(s) are fully explored to ascertain whether the proposed commercial extraction is sustainable for the future of aquifer(s) and the communities which rely upon them.  It is totally inappropriate to issue these commercial licences in light of ever-increasing Level 4 Drought and unprecedented forest fire risks throughout the Province.  This is not the time to be issuing “First in Time, First in Rights” groundwater extraction licences which treat our water as a commercial commodity and thereby threatens the water security of entire communities and ecosystems that depend upon them.

Local communities, through their local governments need to be referred on commercial groundwater licence applications BEFORE the licence is issued and each application must be subject to a full, public consultation process in the affected area BEFORE a licence is issued.  Water is vital to all of us and is a public resource which should not be allowed to be privatized and sold off the commercial water bottling or bulk water exports.  The health and security of our communities are at stake.

FURTHER BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Strathcona Regional District received strong public support for the Resolution above and a Delegation from Bruce Gibbons, supported by a large public gallery appealed to our Board urging us to bring this issue to the AVICC and UBCM.  Also, excerpts from a letter the SRD received from Gillian Anderson of Merville, BC are provided below and provided the impetus to bring this matter forward for the attention of AVICC, UBCM and the Provincial Government:

Ms. Anderson wrote:  “There are deficiencies in the licence approval process and a lack of sufficient knowledge of surface water management and the health of BC aquifers and their streams and rivers, which must require a suspension to any future bottling approvals, including the proposed amendment to allow this withdrawal and transport….In the face of inadequate information about how climate change and development are affecting how aquifers are recharged, and faced with the modern reality of chronic water shortages and public sentiment for water conservation, the permitted use of commercial water bottling must be removed from the Water Sustainability Act.”

“According to the Canadian Fresh Water Alliance, “More than 60% of the Province’s water basins were in drought conditions in the fall of 2017.  Water policy experts rank drought and flood resilience as the number one challenge that will define British Columbia…One-fifth of Provincial observation wells show moderate to large rates of decline…Climate change, overuse and poor planning are ushering the Province into an era of tough water decisions.  The tools and policies we have to defend water simply aren’t built to withstand a multi-year drought in BC.  The critical drought conditions we are seeing more frequently across the Province could be mitigated by stronger legislation of BC’s freshwater resources…We lack a full understanding of how much is down there or how withdrawals affect the health of our rivers, lakes and streams…”

“BC water policies are inadequate for the task of managing our water responsibly and need to be updated to reflect modern realities.”

 

CLARIFICATIONS FROM BRENDA LEIGH:

They tried to portray that my Resolution was all about a particular Zoning application in Merville when, if fact, I was alerted to the BC Water Sustainability Act’s “First in Time, First in Rights” policy through my learning about the Merville problem.  

My resolution is about not allowing ANY commercial water bottling and/or bulk water sales to tap into our groundwater.  It was not about any specific application and, in fact, I wrote to the reporter and told him that we at Strathcona do not have any water bottling applications received to date and that this Resolution is about the bigger issue of protection of Canadian water sources.   (emphasis added)- – – –

– – – – – – – – – – –

“Local Haulers” deliver bulk water to local people.   The water is from a tap, the municipal water supply.  The Resolution does not apply to local haulers.

– – – – – – – – – – –

On Nov 21, 2018, Tom Yates <TYates  { @ }srd.ca> wrote:

. . .     For your reference here is the resolution on this topic from OCTOBER that was forwarded to the Premier:

THAT the Premier and the Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources and Rural Development of BC be advised that the SRD does not support approvals of licenses for the extraction of groundwater anywhere from aquafers on Vancouver Island to be sold for commercial purposes, such as water bottling, bulk water export or private sales.

 

SUPPORT FOR THE RESOLUTION, from OUTSIDE Strathcona Regional District   (tabulation incomplete.)

NEXT VOTES, chronologically:

APRIL

REGIONAL, B.C.   (List of Regional Districts, B.C.)

 Strathcona is a member of a larger regional body:  AVICC, the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (the “coastal communities” are on the Sunshine Coast, across the Salish Sea, on the mainland).

AVICC AGM, April 12 – 14, in Powell River.   PASSED, UNANIMOUSLY

Other REGIONAL votes,  similar Resolutions to Strathcona?    Stay tuned, we’ll try to collect information as it happens.

– – – – – – – – – – – –

MAY – JUNE, 2019  

NATIONAL, FCM  (Federation of Canadian Municipalities)

May 30 to June 2 –   FCM meets this year in Quebec City.

Update Feb 11:  too late to get on Agenda.  Deadline for Resolutions was Jan. 9

Feb 11, 2019:  Hi Sandra,

The information you are looking for can be found on this page: https://fcm.ca/en/about-fcm/corporate-resources/fcm-resolutions/about-resolutions

Unfortunately, the deadline to submit resolutions for consideration at FCM’s 2019 Annual Conference has passed (it was January 9).  The next deadline is July 10th for consideration at FCM’s September 2019 Board meeting.

For additional information about FCM’s resolutions process, please refer to our Procedures for Resolutions.

Regards,

Resolutions

– – – – – – – – – – – –

SEPTEMBER

PROVINCIAL,     UBCM  (Union of B.C. MUNICIPALITIES)

SEPT 23 to 27 –  Vancouver

News,  May 20:   The Strathcona Resolution is on the Agenda!

– – – – – – – – – – – –

OCTOBER

FEDERAL,  Election, October 21, 2019

= = = = = =  =

LOCAL NEWSPAPER REPORTS

1.       2018-10-29 Water: pushing to block for-profit water extraction and bottling, right across Vancouver Island

Campbell River area wants Vancouver Island united against commercial water extraction,  By Mike Chouinard

2.        Comox Valley Regional District defeats Merville water bottling operation application(Campbell River Mirror)

Applicant says he will bottle the water in the Strathcona Regional District,   By Jolene Rudisuela,  Aug. 28, 2018

3.         Jim Abram, Director, did an interview. Go to Campbell River Mirror website.  7 Vista Radio.  The interview is printed word-for-word.

 

 

List of Regional Districts, B.C.

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jan 312019
 

Return to INDEX 

Wikipedia has a map of BC, with the Regional District boundaries:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regional_districts_of_British_Columbia

 

Union of B.C. Municipalities  Member List:

Head office location (from Wikipedia)

  1.   Alberni-Clayoquot     Port Alberni

2.   Bulkley-Nechako    Burns Lake

3.   Capital     Victoria

4.   Cariboo  Williams Lake

5.   Central Coast Bella Coola

6.   Central Kootenay   Nelson

7.   Central Okanagan   Kelowna

8.   Columbia Shuswap   Salmon Arm

9.   Comox Valley   Courtenay

10.   Cowichan Valley Duncan

11.   East Kootenay   Cranbrook

12.   Fraser Valley   Chilliwack

13.   Fraser-Fort George   Prince George

14.   Islands Trust     (On UBCM list, not Wikipedia.  Islands in the Salish Sea)

15.   Kitimat-Stikine   Terrace

16.   Kootenay-Boundary    Trail

17.   Metro Vancouver       Burnaby

18.   Mount Waddington   Port McNeill

19.   Nanaimo        Nanaimo

20.   North Okanagan     Coldstream

21.   North Coast      Prince Rupert

22.   Okanagan-Similkameen     Penticton

23.   Peace River  Dawson Creek

24.   qathet    Powell River

25.   Squamish-Lillooet  Pemberton

26.   Strathcona  Campbell River

27.   Sunshine Coast  Sechelt

28.   Thompson-Nicola   Kamloops

 

2019-01-28 For Your Selection. Main emphasis: serious, the export of water.

 For your selection (summary list recent postings)  1 Response »
Jan 282019
 

The last email I sent to full network was Dec 15.    Subject: Letter sent to International Trade, re Export of Water.

= = = = = = = = = = = =

WATER

Local action on the protection of water is catapulting right across Canada.  

       MOVED.  Is now its’ own posting:      2019-01-28   Water, list of recent postings & intro to the “Strathcona Resolution”

 

= = = = = = = = = = = =

ON THE TRANSNATIONAL FRONT.
(There’s very serious stuff coming down the pike in February.  I’ll get to it, after more work on the export of water.)

Much good news.  Enough to stop and celebrate!   Whoo hoo!

2019-01-16 Health Canada, No independent review of Roundup Herbicide (Monsanto now Bayer), from Canadian Cancer Survivor Network and Prevent Cancer NOW

 a petition.

2018-11-29 Bayer Slashes 12,000 Jobs as Monsanto Takeover Turns Sour, by Sustainable Pulse

2019- Oxford places ban on donations and research grants from Huawei, The Guardian

Does it really matter whether the funding is from Huawei, Lockheed Martin, or Monsanto-Bayer?    Trying to close the barn door after the horse has bolted.

2018-10-26 Cameco Appeal – Success! (Canadians for Tax Fairness)

2018-12-01 GMO’s: Brazil Court Rules Against Syngenta for Murder of MST Activist, teleSUR

2018-04-07 GMO’s: ChemChina’s purchase of Syngenta, 43 billion U.S. dollars, the largest transaction ever clinched by a Chinese company overseas

2018-12-05 US: 1st Criminal Charges Filed in Off-Shore Banking Activity, teleSUR. Panama Papers

2018-11-30 Meet the Guatemalan villagers taking a Canadian mining company to court, CBC Documentary, Peter Mansbridge

2019-01-15 “Cash-for-access dinners have made a return to Ontario politics and it’s a bad sign for democracy. … “At $1,250 per-plate to buy the ear of the premier, this is not a ‘government for the people.’ It’s a government for big banks, big developers, big nuclear, and big oil.”

2018-03-14 Canadian court awards $2.6 billion in Sino-Forest fraud case, Reuters   What are the consequences? 

2018-11-29 Rebuttal re Hillary Clinton (why does she have to be the enemy?)

2018-12-29 Stop adding cancer-causing chemicals to our bacon, experts tell the meat industry, The Guardian

Starkest warning yet about nitrites that turn cured products pink

BIG PHARMA

2019-01-06 IMPORTANT, UPDATE on the request for USA Dept of Justice to investigate allegations of fraud & obstruction of justice, vaccinations and autism link

2018-12-03 The New Internet Police Protecting You From Freedom of Thought and Speech, NVIC, Barbara Loe Fisher

2018-12-07 An alert sent to OpenMedia, Propaganda flourishes if we can’t hang onto Net Neutrality.(re preceding, the new internet police)

= = = = = = = = = = = =

MILITARY

2019-01-16 Canadian military claimed a report didn’t exist — even though it ‘clearly’ did, Ottawa Citizen

2018-12-05 How False Testimony and a Massive U.S. Propaganda Machine Bolstered George H.W. Bush’s War on Iraq

2019-01 How a World Order Ends And What Comes in Its Wake, Foreign Affairs Magazine, January/February 2019 Issue

2018-11-26 America is the bad guy now, Opinion, Jared Sexton, the Globe & Mail

= = = = = = = = = = = =

 

I AM EMBARRASSED TO SAY,  I DID NOT KNOW THIS CANADIAN HISTORY.  IT IS AMAZING.

“Unsettling Canada”, excerpts; Also, the obituary of its’ author Arthur Manuel.

2016 “Unsettling Canada, A National Wake-up Call”, by Arthur Manuel & Grand Chief Ronald Derrickson

2004-11-18 Supreme Court of Canada decision, Haida Nation v. British Columbia, Terri-Lynn Williams, Haida Gwaii lawyer, sucessfully argued aboriginal title/right, tree farm licenses.

= = = = = = = = = = = =

 

ON THE ASSANGE FRONT

2019-01-08 In Western media, publishing fake news about Russia is a good career move… with no consequences

2018-10-12 WikiLeaks Publishes a List of Amazon Data Centers (from Data Centre Knowledge). Thank-you, Wikileaks.

2018-12-03 Former Guardian Editor-in-Chief Rusbridger talks journalism to Yale Law Students. Yale Daily News.

2018-12-31 JUSTICE FOR ASSANGE, Test of western democracy, from NewAge

You may wish to start reading at the heading:   Contagious act of resistance

= = = = = = = = = = = =

 

OTHER

2019-01-02 Strange is our situation here upon earth. Albert Einstein 

2018-11-26 Extinction Rebellion chapters proliferating across Canada, rabble.ca

As “Rebellion Day 2” took place in London, U.K. on November 24, Extinction Rebellion Facebook groups are proliferating rapidly across Canada.

2018-11-19 Musician Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) in Ecuador to Support Amazon Peoples Who Won Landmark Judgment Against Chevron. (Connection to Canada)

2019-01-28 Taking of water for export. Director Brenda Leigh re “First in Time, First in Rights” policy

 Water Merville (Strathcona, Campbell River, Comox)  1 Response »
Jan 282019
 

Return to INDEX

PLEASE CONSIDER FORWARDING,  either the link to this posting, or a “copy and paste”, as you see fit.

 

The links at the bottom are important – –  the Agri-Food Canada program to increase water exports from Canada.

Brenda Leigh, Director on the Regional District Strathcona Board, created an excellent opportunity, by getting a Resolution passed.

Local people (Vancouver Island) are doing a good job on take-up of the initiative and spreading information.

It needs to go across Canada. 

  • Dismantle the Agri-Food Canada program that promotes and supports the expansion of Water Export from Canada
  • At the provincial level, BC, the Resolution is building toward Provincial Legislation to CEASE the taking of ground water.
  • Start something in your community.  If the “export water for Profit” people are pushed out of one jurisdiction,  they will move to an uninformed jurisdiction.  It’s clear from the bit of history in

2019-01-24   Export of Water, for profit. Economic argument. “You cannot give up something that gives you income”. In a system that measures success by expansion – – every year “more”, always “growth” in sales.    When the product is water??

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Brenda Leigh, Director on the Strathcona Board who authored the Resolution to stop the taking of water,  wrote (in relation to the APPENDED):

I vaguely recall the VanderZalm controversy over the water licence disputes that happened between two private companies with the BC Government and some Ministers being directly involved.  I was just out of high school when all that was going on.

It was very interesting  to read the 2016 Court decision and realize the depth of corruption in the Socred Government and how long this push for selling off our water heritage in Canada has been ongoing and how at risk our source water might be. “Water is life,” as you say on your website.

(INSERT re next paragraph:  Brenda’s point about “First in Time, First in Rights” is important.  Those who see the dollars to be made will know about that Policy in the Act.  And seek out the related opportunities.   That was a problem in Alberta (just for example, irrigation often creates “first in time” rights), and is, of course,  the reason there is an association of lawyers in the U.S. that do nothing but litigation over water rights.  Brenda’s Resolution that was just passed by Strathcona is very important – – right across Canada.   Jurisdictions everywhere are doing detailed mapping of groundwater.  The Agri-Food Canada program needs to be knocked out of existence.   Back to Brenda:)

The “Campbell River Mirror” got the story all wrong, in my opinion.  They tried to portray that my Resolution was all about a particular Zoning application in Merville when, in fact, I was alerted to the BC Water Sustainability Act’s “First in Time, First in Rights” policy through my learning about the Merville problem.  My resolution is about not allowing ANY commercial water bottling and/or bulk water sales to tap into our groundwater.  It was not about any specific application and, in fact, I wrote to reporter Mike Choinard and told him that we at Strathcona do not have any water bottling applications received to date and that this Resolution is about the bigger issue of protection of Canadian water sources.

 

= = = = = = = = = =

APPENDED

UPDATE:  Thursday,  Jan 24

The Strathcona Resolution  passed unanimously.   It applies to all B.C., not just (the Association of )  Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC).

NEWS REPORT:  2019-01-25 Strathcona Regional District board passes bottled water resolution for AVICC meeting

The motion will now go to AVIIC AGM April 12 – 14 in Powell River.   (Up through the levels of municipal governments, hopefully culminating in a Provincial Law.)

THE  RESOLUTION:  (The Provincial Govt)  be requested to immediately cease the licensing and extraction of groundwater for commercial water bottling and/or bulk water exports from aquifers 

The wordsmithing  stick-handles through the obstacles.  If “surface” water is included, it may get tied up in complications over existing bottling operations and other concerns.    “Groundwater” has the potential to get through to the goal-post – – a Provincial LAW.

(FYI:  As I understand, when a motion goes to AVICC, it has to be applicable to the whole Province.  The clause that restricted the Resolution to the Island and Coastal Communities was removed (amendment).  The other amendment:  as presented, the Provincial Govt was asked to immediately “curtail” licensing and extraction.  Was amended to “cease” licensing . . .)

Also to know:  regardless the number of Representatives from one Municipal Govt that attend AVICC, each one has a vote.   2 or 10 or 13 votes for one Council or District, doesn’t matter.  That’s how it works.  Which Representatives attend may be a factor in some instances.)

The hurdle now is to see that there are enough votes to get it passed by AVICC.  More on the organizing around that, later.

BECAUSE it’s province-wide:

  • Yes, we have to get the votes for the AVICC AGM
  • BUT, simultaneously we need to quickly get Resolutions submitted to OTHER of the Regional Districts that are on the same level as AVICC.  Kootenay is one, for example.  I’ll find a list we can distribute.  Among all of us, we’ll know people in the other districts, as well as in other member communities of AVICC, that we can approach.
  • AVICC’s deadline for Resolutions for their AGM is Feb 7th.  The Strathcona Resolution meets the deadline.  Other Districts will have a similar, or the same deadline.

If some of the other Districts have passed a Resolution similar to AVICC (the Strathcona Resolution),  there’s a greater chance there will be enough support to get it “all the way” to UBCM, the top.

With that, it should happen that it becomes LAW!

UBCM  ANNUAL CONVENTION   (Union of BC Municipalities)

2019       Monday to Friday,  September 23 – September 27            Vancouver

– – – – – – – –  – –

2019-01-24   Export of Water, for profit. Economic argument. “You cannot give up something that gives you income”. In a system that measures success by expansion – – every year “more”, always “growth” in sales.    When the product is water??

The preceding link includes some history on the efforts to export water for profit.  Canadians should know.

The link below has the information on the Agri-Food Canada program that is working to increase the amount of water exported from Canada.   Most of that water comes, and will come, from B.C.  China has been targeted for expansion of the market for Canadian bottled water (for profit).

Related:   2018-12-15 Submission, International Trade, re Export of Water.

The Federal Election is October 21, 2019.

/Sandra

2019-01-24 Export of Water, for profit. Economic argument. “You cannot give up something that gives you income”. In a system that measures success by expansion – – every year “more”, always “growth” in sales. When the product is water? (Submission to Strathcona District Board)

 Water Merville (Strathcona, Campbell River, Comox)  No Responses »
Jan 252019
 

Return to INDEX

RELATED:

2019-01-28 Taking of water for export. Director Brenda Leigh re “First in Time, First in Rights” policy

2019-01-25   Strathcona Regional District board passes bottled water resolution for AVICC meeting

 

BELOW:

  •  the wording of the Resolution, as it was passed – – near the bottom of this posting
  •  trade in water and the first Free Trade Deals with the U.S.  (moved to HISTORY)
  •  1991 re planned bulk tanker export of water from Fanny Bay, B.C. to California
  • almost 30 years later, B.C. Supreme Court Judge finds Vander Zalm Government guilty of misfeasance (corruption) in Export of Water
  • 1999 intended:  bulk export by tanker of the water from Gisborne Lake, Nfld to the U.S. – – shut down through opposition by Canadians.
  • “deserts” created by the taking; or by the degradation of water:  Aral Sea, Salton Sea, delta of the Colorado River, disappeared oases in the Arizona desert (draw down of ground water for various purposes),  and so on, many examples.

– – – – – – – –  – – – – – –

After news of the effort to establish a bottling plant in Merville B.C., people in mid-Island discovered there are long-standing bottled water plants in our area, relatively unknown.  They serve the export market, as well as domestic.

Nestle has a water bottling plant near Hope, B.C..  A 2016 news report:

“The company takes about 265 million litres of water a year from this site and has done so for years, although verifying past takings is difficult because, until 2016, there was not only no charge for groundwater takings, there was no reporting requirement.” “Outrage about the Hope site has been growing for years but exploded during the drought and wildfires of summer 2015. . . .”.       See:

2016-09-19 & 2018-04-12 Chilliwack chapter (RE Hope, BC) wants Nestle to “stop profiting from water; & Water campaigners hold action at Nestlé, the Hope Standard.

 

A very important conversation has been started by the Strathcona Resolution on the taking of groundwater for export, for profit.

The important ideas are about the economic system.  How it works. Not theoretically, but the way it is in back rooms on main street.

In one sentence an old fisherman captured the dilemma with the export of water:

“You cannot give up something that gives you income”.

It comes down to:

We have to stop the export of water before a whole lot MORE people and Governments are dependent on the money from it.

Otherwise it will not be stopped because “Growth” in GDP is paramount.

 

Most of the water exported from Canada is from B.C.  . . .  or is it Ontario?    . . .  who knows?

Where does the push come from?  More than one place.  One you would not expect:

AGRI-FOOD CANADA, OTTAWA,  HAS A PROGRAM THAT SPECIFICALLY PROMOTES THE EXPORT OF WATER

Go on their website; pages dated 2017 say 75% of the water exported goes to the U.S.;  they are targeting China for market expansion, with financial and other supports for the water exporters.    See:

2018-12-15   Submission, International Trade, re Export of Water.

The Fanny Bay plant supplies Asian markets, as well as domestic.  Less is known about another plant in my area.

 

This MANTRA:  “GROWTH”. 

Politicians love it; business voters equate it with a well-administered economy.

But GDP measures financial transactions that go through a cash register.  It tells you nothing about the value of the expenditures.  Nor does it tell you whether you’re doing a run on assets,  depleting the bank accounts.

I am moved by reclamation work done by Streamkeepers.   Some people dedicate all their spare time.  In GDP that sweat and success have zero value whereas destruction does count.  The Deepwater Horizon fiasco in the Gulf of Mexico.  Human-made environmental disaster, sick people with big medical bills, those things “grow” the economy, according to our archaic economic indicators.  As long as it goes through the cash register.

The idea that “success is continuous growth” is especially dangerous in the case where water is the product you’re selling.   The Agri-food program will be evaluated.  Did Canada ship “more” water this year than last?  That’s their job.  In 2014 it was almost $170 million dollars worth.  (I don’t have more recent figures.  If you do,  please let me know.  You could use the “Comments” section at the bottom of this posting.)

Do people know when, or how, to stop an “economic” activity that is doing great harm?

The old fisherman answered the question.

 “You cannot give up something that gives you income”.

Note:  in his case, they weren’t exporting water; they were taking water from the inflowing river, to grow crops.  In either case, the water doesn’t reach the delta, estuary, or the sea where the fish are.  There’s no difference, just as there’s no difference between exporting water to another country or domestically.

The old fisherman was speaking of the irrigators.  He understood their plight.  A whole economy had grown up around the water from the river, a now-large irrigation industry – – suppliers, specialists, machinery.  The central Government supported it; various taxes flowed in.

The fisherman did not state his own case:  he had been forced to give up his income; there were no more fish.

The taking of the water was “locked in”; the taking of “more” enabled “more” income, growth, dependency for “more” people.

Can you ever say to the exporters, or to the new cattle plantations coming to our area:  we’ve gone too far?

A lawyer from the U.S. was a guest speaker at a Water Conference I attended.  The organizers thought his experience would illustrate the value of water, as an investment vehicle.  The lawyer said there was litigation over water rights on every single river in the U.S.  There is a national association of lawyers who do nothing but litigation over water rights.  So it must be valuable, right?    But who gets the water in that scenario? . . .  seems obvious to me:  those who can afford a specialized lawyer.

Prairie people were dependent upon buffalo and beaver for keeping themselves warm and healthy.  In the beginning, the First Nations did not understand that the European markets they were supplying could never be satisfied.  They were just too large.

Today, we know how many people live in Asia, and in the U.S.; we know how the economy works.

We need to fight hard to stop expansion of the water-taking business.  Look at fisheries, I lived in Nova Scotia while the cod fishery was going into the coffin.  it might become necessary to downsize;  but it’s unlikely to happen.  Not in time.  Mother Nature might fold.  That’s what brings a halt to the economic activity that is harming and destroying.  We human beings don’t do it.  cannot give up revenue

Economically,  we have to be more creative than putting water in bottles and shipping it out.

Other characteristics of our economic system also warn against exporting water.

 

WE HAVE AN ECONOMY THAT CONCENTRATES WEALTH

Big firms buy up smaller firms.

The “owners” are as likely to be large foreign corporations, as they are to be local companies; Nestle, CocaCola, there are Chinese companies of comparable size and power.  It’s a foreign language.  Just because we can’t spell or say their names does not mean they don’t exist.

. . . June 2016,  the last update on a court case that goes back to 1991.   The lawsuit is over favours exchanged between the Vander Zalm Government, and a company that wanted to be the exporter of water.  The other would-be exporter was frozen out.   The Judge (B.C. Supreme Court) ruled “misfeasance” (corruption).

2016-06-17 Water export, vander Zalm:  B.C. government guilty of misfeasance in long-running water dispute; B.C. businessman waged a two-decade legal battle against his province. A judge finally sided with him; Province appeals damning water export case; Premier Bill vander Zalm and the Water War Crimes

Here’s the headline on the California side, from the Los Angeles Times:

1991-03-22 Raining on Water Importer’s Parade: Drought: The latest series of storms may have doused chances that a Santa Barbara firm will get a large contract to import water from Fanny Bay, Vancouver Island, Canada.

Excerpt:  $100 million on an emergency tankering program (1991 dollars)

 

In Qualicum Bay and French Creek, there were cases of cholera, and there’s chronic noro-virus in the Salish Sea.  Feedback from natural systems tells us that the systems are failing; and we’d better make “appropriate and timely” corrections.

Is expansion of the export of water from B.C. going to help improve matters?  No.  It will un-do the progress that numerous citizens have worked hard to accomplish.  We’re far better off to move the money from Agri-Food Canada into addressing CAUSES of the decline.  AgriFood Canada gone, we won’t even notice; oysters that make Canadians sick are another matter.  Cholera really grabs your attention.  It’s bad for the tourist industry.

Someone else is not going to look after these waterways for us.   Look at the context:  an economy that concentrates wealth in outside hands that are disconnected from this place.  They don’t know where the profits (their dividends) come from.  Unfortunately, I don’t have time to tell you how the Exemption on Trade in Water was removed from the very first Trade Deals with the U.S., and by whom.  (. . .  see HISTORY)

Canada and the provinces used to have laws that recognized the need for protection of water.  It is sacred in the sense that you die without it.

In closing, from the wrap-up to a successful effort to stop a large dam on the South Saskatchewan River. It was part of the infrastructure for the export of water to the U.S. from Lake Athabasca in northern Saskatchewan, but that was never told to us.  (Did you know about the Agri-Food Canada program?)  From 2006-04-27 Water. Wrap-up statement, Proposed Meridian Dam. Battle won.

Many societies have understood their dependence. The things upon which the society is dependent are sacred. It is not superstition, it is Good Common Sense. You cherish the things upon which your life is dependent. Your grandchildren will be as dependent as you. You protect the gift so they, too, (may live here).    Outsiders do, and will, look at our Society in bewilderment: how is it that these people did not understand their relationship to the River, to Water?  . . .  We display ignorance.

Remember the old fisherman.  He’s from the Aral Sea.  It was the fourth largest inland sea in the world.  How long did it take for policies and support of the central government to empty it?

National Geographic:  https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/10/141001-aral-sea-shrinking-drought-water-environment

BBC:   http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180719-how-kazakhstan-brought-the-aral-sea-back-to-life

 

I ask you to please support the Resolution.  It is practical, it addresses the way things are on the street.  It is forward-thinking, anticipates problems, stops them before they get out of the gate.  The Resolution is smart and it’s needed.

Thank-you.

 

= = = = = = = = = = = = =

THE RESOLUTION, as amended and passed:

“WHEREAS water is an essential resource upon which all life, including all ecosystems and all local communities depend and

WHEREAS water is a public heritage and a public trust for present and future generations and access to water must not be compromised by commercial operations relating to commercial water bottling or commercial bulk water exports, 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Premier of British Columbia and the Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources and Rural Development be requested to immediately cease the licensing and extraction of groundwater for commercial water bottling and/or bulk water exports from aquifers.”

Agri-food Canada’s program that targets the growth of the water export market needs to be dismantled.   Can we mount a nation-wide effort?

Local firms are taken over by the behemoth transnationals.  We are never going to influence what goes on in Ottawa between Big Government and Big Business.  We have a chance if power is dispersed, with some at the local level.

It’s the Federal Government;  it’s up to “Canadians” to communicate with each other across the country.  In B.C.,  we will otherwise be exhausted, wrestling with a ghost that is operating out-of-sight,  sending more and more water into export markets,  always for profit.  There will be consequences for us.

 

A KNOWN REALITY of CONTEXT:  CORRUPTION AND BEHAVIOR NOT BEFITTING A DEMOCRACY, CANADA TODAY

Corporate entities have motivation and often financial power with which to corrupt political parties and politicians, and the bureaucracy or civil service.  We are not different from other countries in the face of Big Government working with Big Corporations.

So we have an economy that concentrates wealth.  Think of how that works:  the big firms that do the gobbling are “from away”.  Power moves to the centre.  They take power away from the local.  (Agri-Food Canada has decided that we are exporting our water.)

A chasm is created.  On one side sit those who are “Experiencing” the taking of whatever it is.  On the other side sit those who are Deciding and Benefiting.

But this time we have advantages: we know how many people live in China, we know how the economy works.

“You cannot give up something that gives you income.”

So?  Stop the export of water, before a whole lot of people and governments are dependent on the money from it.  It’s especially dangerous when the mantra is “growth”.

THE LOCAL SITUATION

Citizens have worked hard to re-establish healthy waterways in which salmon can spawn, to ensure salmon survive into the future.  Not only the salmon benefit.  If they are gone, swaths are mowed down with them.  Same as with the herring.  We aren’t known for making smart decisions that serve the long term.  If we were, we would not be in this mess.

The Salish Sea, effectively an inland sea, does not exist in a vacuum.  Water shipped for profit-making is water that would normally flow into the Sea and its estuaries.   Most of us know the experience of the Colorado River; water taken from it led to the near-death of its once-rich delta (which is after the River crosses the border, into Mexico).  Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent to try and restore it.

The Aral Sea, an inland sea,  was the fourth largest sea in the world, today is a tenth its size.  $87 million dollars has made a difference in one small part of the sea.  http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180719-how-kazakhstan-brought-the-aral-sea-back-to-life

The Salton Sea in California.  https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/6/17433294/salton-sea-crisis-drying-up-asthma-toxic-dust-pictures

If you think of water supplies to deltas and estuaries, Why is, for example, Royal Dutch Shell a hated name in the Niger delta in Nigeria?  The Niger Delta was also once filled with abundance and supported a healthy population of Ogoni people.  Royal Dutch came in to “develop” the oil and gas on the delta.  The Government is “bought”, a few people become rich, Royal Dutch made huge profits.  The local people today live impoverished and unhealthy lives because the corporation gets away with whatever it can get away with.  They are “outsiders”; they have no allegiance to local well-being.  Corruption of officials is rampant.  Resisters are killed.  The story is repeated and repeated, in many different countries.

The point is:  Agri-food Canada in Ottawa promotes and assists with expansion of water export from B.C..  You don’t know they’re doing that.   The program they have will be evaluated for its success.  We have ONE word by which we measure economic activity:  GROWTH.   Look at impoverishment in the world:  do people know when to stop an “economic” activity?  Royal Dutch Shell?  Texaco/Chevron in the Amazon forests of Ecuador?  They stop when the water is so poisoned it can’t be used; the whole area is a “tailings pond” and the land uninhabitable.  Pollute the water;  take the water.

Someone else is not going to look after these waterways for us.   Look at the context:  an economy that concentrates wealth in outside hands that are disconnected from this place.  They don’t know where the profits (their dividends) come from.  Routine corruption, from the first trade deals with the U.S., and on, through vander Zalm and beyond.  When I hear what Premier Ford has gotten away with, I don’t think the corruption is going to end anytime soon.  Few people stand up to it.

When it comes to water, Canada and the provinces have, or used to have, laws that recognized the need for protection of water.  It is sacred in the sense that you die without it.  It doesn’t matter whether you are “taking” out of the system in large and increasing quantities, or whether you’re polluting it.  You have only to look at the Niger Delta (mentioned), or the Aamjiwnaang First Nation adjacent to the refineries in Sarnia, ON, or to the people at Fort Chipewyan downstream from Fort McMurray, to know where polluted (poisoned) water takes us.

We cannot live in health, in an environment where water is not protected. Nor can wildlife, or fish and other aquatic organisms.  We know from our own Sea, a stone’s throw away, from experience with salmon, oysters, herring, orcas, whales . . .  we have to actively fight to protect Water.  We imperil the life that is here, if we don’t.  There’s ample evidence from the historical record to serve as a red warning light.

I ask you to please support the Resolution.

Thank-you.

 

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