scholarly journals Water scarcity policy: evaluation with a focus on Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario

Author(s):  
Heather Christine Adams

Water scarcity is inherently complex, yet it is a largely ignored and chronically understudied problem in Canada. The country has a relative abundance of freshwater, which has led to wasteful and inefficient use of water resources and high economic and environmental costs. Responsibility to govern this precious resource is predominantly in the power of the provinces in accordance with the 1982 Constitution Act. Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario were selected as jurisdictions of study. Alberta’s Water for Life Strategy, British Columbia’s Living Water Smart Strategy and Water Sustainability Act, as well as Ontario’s Permit to Take Water Program are important policy instruments in the prevention of scarcity. To contribute to policy improvements for each of selected jurisdiction, policy recommendations and criteria for policy evaluation were developed and applied, drawing on examples of challenges and responses from selected international jurisdictions.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Christine Adams

Water scarcity is inherently complex, yet it is a largely ignored and chronically understudied problem in Canada. The country has a relative abundance of freshwater, which has led to wasteful and inefficient use of water resources and high economic and environmental costs. Responsibility to govern this precious resource is predominantly in the power of the provinces in accordance with the 1982 Constitution Act. Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario were selected as jurisdictions of study. Alberta’s Water for Life Strategy, British Columbia’s Living Water Smart Strategy and Water Sustainability Act, as well as Ontario’s Permit to Take Water Program are important policy instruments in the prevention of scarcity. To contribute to policy improvements for each of selected jurisdiction, policy recommendations and criteria for policy evaluation were developed and applied, drawing on examples of challenges and responses from selected international jurisdictions.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096466392110316
Author(s):  
Chloé Nicolas-Artero

This article shows how geo-legal devices created to deal with environmental crisis situations make access to drinking water precarious and contribute to the overexploitation and contamination of water resources. It relies on qualitative methods (interviews, observations, archive work) to identify and analyse two geo-legal devices applied in the case study of the Elqui Valley in Chile. The first device, generated by the Declaration of Water Scarcity, allows private sanitation companies to concentrate water rights and extend their supply network, thus producing an overexploitation of water resources. In the context of mining pollution, the second device is structured around the implementation of the Rural Drinking Water Programme and the distribution of water by tankers, which has made access to drinking water more precarious for the population and does nothing to prevent pollution.


Author(s):  
Anwar Parviz

Since water scarcity is an emerging problem in Pakistan; Water Resources Preservation is a matter of substantial importance. When excess water is used for agricultural purposes, it may damage the crops. Manual control and management of water for agricultural purposes take a lot of effort and time. This research work is an effort to propose and implement a fully automated solar irrigation system that may solve the problem of excessive usage of water for agricultural purposes. This proposed system, after sensing various indicators such as wind, temperature, soil, and rain, turns the water motor on and off accordingly and thus ensures calculated and wise usage of water. Moreover, our proposed system has a covering mechanism that covers the model during the rain and when needed.


Author(s):  
Nilanjan Ghosh ◽  
Anandajit Goswami

This chapter presents the concept of the establishment of a futures market in water in the context of the risk of water availability that Indian agriculture has been facing in the recent years. In the process, the chapter argues how the development of such a market can actually reduce the scarcity value of water, and may help in reducing the intensity of conflicts over water resources.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3248
Author(s):  
Julio Berbel ◽  
Nazaret M. Montilla-López ◽  
Giacomo Giannoccaro

Integrated water resources management seeks an efficient blend of all water resources (e [...]


polemica ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 072-086
Author(s):  
Sandra Sereide Ferreira da Silva ◽  
Vera Lúcia Antunes De Lima ◽  
Ângela Maria Cavalcanti Ramalho ◽  
Allan Carlos Alves

Resumo: A escassez da água em regiões áridas e semiáridas tem sido tema de debates, políticas e pesquisas com o objetivo principal de subsidiar as ações capazes de permitir o seu aproveitamento racional, permitindo a convivência da população com os períodos de seca ou reduzida precipitação. Assim, a escassez de água tem conduzido à implantação de projetos de desenvolvimento, que têm como desafio a busca de alternativas de convivência com a seca que conduzam a melhorias sociais. Com base nesse contexto, este estudo tem como objetivo propor a criação de um modelo de construção de cenários para viabilidade do reúso de água para ser utilizado como elemento mitigador das implicações da seca em regiões semiáridas. O modelo de construção de cenários é um importante instrumento de gerenciamento de recursos naturais, neste caso específico, recursos hídricos, pois permite envolver um grande número de participantes, tem a possibilidade de orientar o debate público para a construção estratégica coletiva de um futuro almejado, contribui para um eficaz processo de aprendizagem organizacional no âmbito do Sistema Nacional de Gerenciamento de Recursos Hídricos visando um melhor entendimento, tanto dos aspectos ambientais quanto dos aspectos sociais e institucionais relacionados aos recursos hídricos no País, em especial, nas regiões semiáridas. Como se trabalham e convivem com a incerteza, os cenários procuram analisar e sistematizar as diversas probabilidades dos eventos e dos processos por meio da exploração dos pontos de mudança e das grandes tendências, de modo que as alternativas mais prováveis sejam antecipadas.Palavras-chaves: Recursos Hídricos. Reúso de Água. Regiões Semiáridas. Construção de Cenários.Abstract: Water scarcity in arid and semi-arid regions has been the subject of debates, policies and research with the main objective of subsidizing actions capable of allowing their rational use, allowing the population to coexist with periods of drought or reduced precipitation. Thus, water scarcity has led to the implementation of development projects, which challenge the search for alternatives to coexistence with drought that lead to social improvements. Based on this context, this study aims to propose the creation of a model for the construction of scenarios for the feasibility of water reuse to be used as a mitigating element of the drought implications in semi-arid regions. The scenario building model is an important tool for managing natural resources, in this specific case, water resources, since it allows a large number of participants to be involved, it has the possibility of guiding the public debate towards the collective strategic construction of a desired future, contributes to an effective organizational learning process within the National Water Resources Management System aiming at a better understanding of both the environmental aspects and the social and institutional aspects related to the water resources in the Country, especially in the semi-arid regions. As they work and coexist with uncertainty, the scenarios seek to analyze and systematize the various probabilities of events and processes by exploring the points of change and the major trends, so that the most likely alternatives are anticipated.Keywords: Water Resources. Water reuse. Semi-Arid Regions. Construction of Scenarios.


2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 17-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lester R. Brown

Water resources are increasingly being overexploited, such that current food production, which relies heavily on irrigation schemes, is unsustainable. Many steps, including improved irrigation techniques, more water-efficient crops and animal protein production, etc., will be needed to raise water productivity across the board. Water must in future be recognised as a scarce resource and not taken for granted.


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