World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
In 2013, in reflection of the International Year of Water Cooperation, World Water Day is also dedicated to the theme of cooperation around water and is coordinated by UNESCO in collaboration with UNECE and UNDESA on behalf of UN-Water.
The BC Branch of the Canadian Water Resources Association held a special session highlighting the Water without Borders? book project.
Presentors at the conference included co-editor Dr. Emma S. Norman, who provided an overview of the book project and discussed key themes, Merrell-Ann Phare, who discussed water quality and governance in a First Nations context, and Richard Paisley, who discussed the upcoming Columbia River Treaty renegotiation.
The presentations were followed by a well-attended and lively panel discussion.
Dr. Emma S. Norman
Merrell-Ann Phare, Emma Norman, and Richard Paisley
Professor Karen Bakker addressed the members of the Canada-US Boundary Waters International Joint Commission at the invitation of UBC President Stephen Toope, on the subject of Canada-US transboundary water governance.
Contemporary Water Governance in the Global South edited by Leila Harris (PoWG), Jacqueline Goldin and Christopher Sneddon will be out in May 2013.
The litany of alarming observations about water use and misuse is now familiar␣over a billion people without access to safe drinking water; almost every major river dammed and diverted; increasing conflicts over the delivery of water in urban areas; continuing threats to water quality from agricultural inputs and industrial wastes; and the increasing variability of climate, including threats of severe droughts and flooding across locales and regions. These issues present tremendous challenges for water governance.
This book focuses on three major concepts and approaches that have gained currency in policy and governance circles, both globally and regionally scarcity and crisis, marketization and privatization, and participation. It provides a historical and contextual overview of each of these ideas as they have emerged in global and regional policy and governance circles and pairs these with in-‐depth case studies that examine manifestations and contestations of water governance internationally. The book interrogates ideas of water crisis and scarcity in the context of bio-physical, political, social and environmental landscapes to better understand how ideas and practices linked to scarcity and crisis take hold, and become entrenched in policy and practice. The book also investigates ideas of marketization and privatization, increasingly prominent features of water governance throughout the global South, with particular attention to the varied implementation and effects of these governance practices. The final section of the volume analyzes participatory water governance, querying the disconnects between global discourses and local realities, particularly as they intersect with the other themes of interest to the volume. Promoting a view of changing water governance that links across these themes and in relation to contemporary realities, the book is invaluable for students, researchers, advocates, and policy makers interested in water governance challenges facing the developing world.
Click here to order your copy.
Karen’s most recent article on water security was published in Science on 24th August 2012.
Bakker, K. (2012). Water Security: Research Challenges and Opportunities. Science. 337 (6097): 914-915. DOI: 10.1126/science.1226337
ABSTRACT: An estimated 80% of the world’s population faces a high-level water security or water-related biodiversity risk (1). The issue of water security—defined as an acceptable level of water-related risks to humans and ecosystems, coupled with the availability of water of sufficient quantity and quality to support livelihoods, national security, human health, and ecosystem services (2, 3)—is thus receiving considerable attention. To date, however, the majority of academic research on water security is relatively poorly integrated with the needs of policy-makers and practitioners; hence, substantial changes to funding, education, research frameworks, and academic incentive structures are required if researchers are to be enabled to make more substantive contributions to addressing the global water crisis.
The final product of the four-year Water Security Project is now available to download.
The Water Security Guidance Document, is a free document developed for small communities to assess risk to water security in their watershed (but many of the concepts and issues are applicable at larger scales). The Water Security Guidance Document contains a broad range of information for both experts and non-experts. Click here for more information and to download the documents.
The Program on Water Governance 2011 Annual Report is now available online. For more information on our Annual Reports click here.
The Water Without Borders? Policy Briefs are now available to download. The briefs, titled: “Flashpoints and Collaboration: How problems can inspire innovative solutions for Canada, the US and the governance of shared waters” are the product of an ongoing project, Water Without Borders? funded through the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation.
The forthcoming book, Water Without Borders? Canada, the United States and Shared Waters edited by Dr. Emma S. Norman, Dr. Alice Cohen, and Dr. Karen Bakker will be released early next year through University of Toronto Press.
It is our pleasure to announce the promotion of Dr. Leila Harris to Co-Director of the Program on Water Governance. Dr Harris brings a wealth of international, interdisciplinary research experience on water, gender, and the environment. We look forward to her playing a leading role in the Program’s international work. Congratulations Leila!
The Fisheries Act is Canada’s strongest environmental law, mainly because it prohibits what’s known as HADD – “the harmful alteration, disruption or destruction of fish habitat”. So when the government plans to dismantle this protection, it’s time for Canadians to say they have HADD enough.
WWF-Canada is campaigning to keep the pressure up and stop the feds from taking this action: HADD Enough? Keep Habitat Protection in the Federal Fisheries Act