Water, water everywhere?

In the global north, there is much we take for granted, the availability of copious drinking water being one of them.

I think it is time we consider the fact the earth has 97 per cent salt water and just three per cent fresh water. Of the three per cent, only one per cent is available for human consumption.

In coastal areas like ours, there are increasing risks salt water may combine with our drinking water source, a huge underwater aquifer. Two individuals with expertise in this field have expressed concern in my presence about increased development in Eastern Kings County bursting the bubble.

Speaking at a recent climate change conference, Dr. Charles Fletcher of the University of Hawaii spoke about low-lying islands in the Pacific being threatened by increasingly high tides and the accompanying salt water, which destroys the soil and aquifers, making food production and obtaining drinking water difficult - if not impossible. "Climate-proofing our infrastructure and towns now could buy us a few generations of use for many of our communities," Fletcher said. "We should be building up (from ground level) and back (from the shoreline)."

Saltwater intrusion has already occurred in aquifers under South Carolina that extend through three states. There is fear in Florida about saltwater intrusion.

Yet, our neighbours to the south use water even more wastefully than oil. The U.S. relies on non-renewable groundwater for 50 per cent of its daily use, and 36 states now face serious water shortages, some verging on crisis.

Philanthropist Jeffrey Sachs has been trying to ring alarm bells, saying water supplies are increasingly under stress in large parts of the world, especially in the world's arid regions. Rapidly intensifying water scarcity reflects bulging populations, depletion of groundwater, waste and pollution and the enormous and increasingly dire effects of manmade climate change. He has written practical solutions will include many components, including better water management, improved technologies to increase the efficiency of water use and new investments undertaken jointly by government, business and civic organizations.

The United Nations designated March 22, 1993 as the first World Water Day, but much waits to be done to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of water resources.

Not surprisingly given our leadership, Canada was pivotal behind 2008 manoeuvres in Geneva to block the U.N. Human Rights Council from recognizing water as a basic human right. Ashfaq Khalfan, co-ordinator of the U.K.-based Right to Water Program, believed the resolution to make water a right would have passed without the resolute lobby efforts of the Canadian delegation. No wonder our representatives were hiding in Copenhagen. In a world where more than two billion people live in water-stressed regions, our government was not willing to approve the setting up of an international water watchdog.

A third of the world's population is suffering from water shortages, according to the International Water Management Institute. The United Nations estimates, by 2025, two-thirds of the planet’s population will be affected by scarcities. We’ll have wars over oil, ideology and water.

Maude Barlow, chairwoman of the Council of Canadians, a veteran of 10 years of battles over water; told CNN last week, every eight seconds somewhere in the world, a child dies from waterborne diseases because the parents cannot afford clean water. "Water must be declared to be something that belongs to all of us, which is not that it's a free-for-all, but that it must be equitably divided and shared - and only government can do that."

Barlow says there is no national strategy to address urgent water issues and no federal leadership to conserve and protect our water. The Federal Water Policy is over 20 years old. Our freshwater faces crises including contamination, shortages and pressure to export water to the United States through pipelines and diversions.

In Nova Scotia, there is an opportunity to strengthen drinking water standards. Improvements to the Municipal Water Approvals Protocols are about to be made. Of course, after deadly Walkerton, Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau is right: "We are continuously working to improve our treatment process to ensure it meets the highest standards" -but we should be doing more. This province needs to be pressuring the feds to enshrine water rights.