scholarly journals Understanding Local Water Collaboration for the Potential to Enhance Community Source Water Protection at Chippewas of the Thames First Nation

Author(s):  
Natalya Garrod

First Nations in Canada are disproportionately affected by chronic drinking water insecurity (Bakker, 2012). Aboriginal Affair and Northern Development Canada conducted an assessment of First Nations water and wastewater systems in 2001 and found significant risk to the quality and safety of drinking water on three- quarters of all systems (Johns and Rasmussen, 2008). Neegan Burnside (2011) classified four differentrisks that affect drinking water systems for First Nations, which include, no source water protection plan,deterioration of water quality over time, risk of contamination, and insufficient capacity to meet futurerequirements. This study found that the two highest risks were risk of source water contamination and thelack of a community source water protection plan (Neegan Burnside, 2011). Water security, sustainableaccess on a watershed basis to adequate quantities of water of acceptable quality to ensure human andecosystem health (Bakker, 2012), therefore requires source water protection and collaboration amongwater actors. Collaboration is defined as the pooling of resources by multiple stakeholders to solveproblems, which includes a balance of power among actors, mutually agreed upon objectives, is perceived as legitimate, and includes a wide variety of stakeholders (Ashlie, 2019; Van Der Porten, 2013; Spencer etal., 2016; Black & McBean, 2017).

Author(s):  
Natalya Garrod

First Nations in Canada are disproportionately affected by chronic drinking water insecurity (Bakker, 2012). Aboriginal Affair and Northern Development Canada conducted an assessment of First Nations water and wastewater systems in 2001 and found significant risk to the quality and safety of drinking water on three- quarters of all systems (Johns and Rasmussen, 2008). Neegan Burnside (2011) classified four differentrisks that affect drinking water systems for First Nations, which include, no source water protection plan,deterioration of water quality over time, risk of contamination, and insufficient capacity to meet futurerequirements. This study found that the two highest risks were risk of source water contamination and thelack of a community source water protection plan (Neegan Burnside, 2011). Water security, sustainableaccess on a watershed basis to adequate quantities of water of acceptable quality to ensure human andecosystem health (Bakker, 2012), therefore requires source water protection and collaboration amongwater actors. Collaboration is defined as the pooling of resources by multiple stakeholders to solveproblems, which includes a balance of power among actors, mutually agreed upon objectives, is perceived as legitimate, and includes a wide variety of stakeholders (Ashlie, 2019; Van Der Porten, 2013; Spencer etal., 2016; Black & McBean, 2017).


Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Patrick ◽  
Kellie Grant ◽  
Lalita Bharadwaj

Access to drinkable water is essential to human life. The consequence of unsafe drinking water can be damaging to communities and catastrophic to human health. Today, one in five First Nation communities in Canada is on a boil water advisory, with some advisories lasting over 10 years. Factors contributing to this problem stretch back to colonial structures and institutional arrangement that reproduce woefully inadequate community drinking water systems. Notwithstanding these challenges, First Nation communities remain diligent, adaptive, and innovative in their efforts to provide drinkable water to their community members. One example is through the practice of source water protection planning. Source water is untreated water from groundwater or surface water that supplies drinking water for human consumption. Source water protection is operationalized through land and water planning activities aimed at reducing the risk of contamination from entering a public drinking water supply. Here, we introduce a source water protection planning process at Muskowekwan First Nation, Treaty 4, Saskatchewan. The planning process followed a community-based participatory approach guided by trust, respect, and reciprocity between community members and university researchers. Community members identified threats to the drinking water source followed by restorative land management actions to reduce those threats. The result of this process produced much more than a planning document but engaged multiple community members in a process of empowerment and self-determination. The process of plan-making produced many unintended results including human–land connectivity, reconnection with the water spirit, as well as the reclaiming of indigenous planning. Source water protection planning may not correct all the current water system inadequacies that exist on many First Nations, but it will empower communities to take action to protect their drinking water sources for future generations as a pathway to local water security.


Author(s):  
Natalya Garrod

My research will examine how collaborative source water protection planning involving First Nations, municipalities, and conservation authorities can act as an avenue for enhancing water security on-reserves in southern Ontario. There is plenty of academic literature that examines the extent of water quality issues on First Nations reserves in Canada, and on the factors that contribute to the problem. However, what is lacking are those focused on collaborative efforts between First Nations, municipalities, and conservation authorities. This gap has been acknowledged by other academics in the field. For example, Nelles and Alcantara (2011) claim scholars have ignored the variety of inter-governmental agreements between Indigenous communities and municipal governments in Canada. “We know very little about collaborative agreements, how or why they have emerged or failed to emerge, and whether or not they would be successful” (Nelles and Alcantara, 2011). Some questions have yet to been answered, such as, what collaborative models currently exist that would enable source water protection? What kind of relationships exist between First Nations and their neighbouring municipalities and conservation authorities? How can these relationships work to positively impact source water protection in the region? The goal of this research is to assess the attitudes, opinions, and experiences of First Nations, Municipalities, and Conservation Authorities in a shared watershed to determine how they might be able to work towards collaborative source water protection planning. A case study approach will be used with COTTFN, the City of London, and Upper and Lower Thames Conservation Authorities. This document will act as a guide to collaborative efforts and relationship building can enhance source water protection.


2015 ◽  
Vol 51 (11) ◽  
pp. 8741-8756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew T. Heberling ◽  
Christopher T. Nietch ◽  
Hale W. Thurston ◽  
Michael Elovitz ◽  
Kelly H. Birkenhauer ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adillah Othman ◽  
Mariani Ariffin

Pharmaceutical contaminants have become a global “emerging pollutant”. Many countries developed various policies and technologies to deal with the problem. In Malaysia, there is no serious attention given to this problem in the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (EQA) and other regulations (Malaysian legislation). Therefore, pharmaceutical contaminants still enter the environment and affect human health through water consumption and water usage. In response to this problem, this study aims to analyse Malaysian legislation and to identify potential protection provided to protect source water from pharmaceutical contaminants. This study employed a qualitative approach. A systematic search was carried out on existing pharmaceutical-related Malaysian legislation. Later, content analysis was conducted to discover patterns and ideas within the existing legislation. This would determine the provisions that could assist the protection of source water from pharmaceutical contaminants. The findings of this study demonstrate only few provisions addressed the problem of pharmaceutical contaminants and thus, this type of contaminant continues to harm theenvironment. It is hoped that the result of this study could enhance Malaysian legislation pertaining to the problem and minimise the risk of pharmaceutical contaminant in drinking water.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adillah Othman ◽  
Mariani Ariffin

Pharmaceutical contaminants have become a global “emerging pollutant”. Many countries developed various policies and technologies to deal with the problem. In Malaysia, there is no serious attention given to this problem in the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (EQA) and other regulations (Malaysian legislation). Therefore, pharmaceutical contaminants still enter the environment and affect human health through water consumption and water usage. In response to this problem, this study aims to analyse Malaysian legislation and to identify potential protection provided to protect source water from pharmaceutical contaminants. This study employed a qualitative approach. A systematic search was carried out on existing pharmaceutical-related Malaysian legislation. Later, content analysis was conducted to discover patterns and ideas within the existing legislation. This would determine the provisions that could assist the protection of source water from pharmaceutical contaminants. The findings of this study demonstrate only few provisions addressed the problem of pharmaceutical contaminants and thus, this type of contaminant continues to harm theenvironment. It is hoped that the result of this study could enhance Malaysian legislation pertaining to the problem and minimise the risk of pharmaceutical contaminant in drinking water.


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