Water Security
The term “water security” is used in many disciplines, particularly the political, physical and social sciences, and in contexts from the local to the global. Concepts within the realm of political science and international relations often focus on elements such as threats to water from terrorism, legal protection of water resources, water sovereignty and transboundary issues. Physical science literature often relates water security to the natural legacy of a country—floods and droughts, and resultant impacts on economies. Within the social sciences, common emphases include the sustainable use of water resources, watershed-focused management and equitable access.
Within Canada, the Program on Water Governance at the University of British Columbia has done much to identify and study water security in the Canadian context. Researchers with this program have defined water security as: “Sustainable access on a watershed basis to adequate quantities of water of acceptable quality, to ensure human and ecosystem health.1”
An oft-repeated myth is that Canada has 20 per cent of the world’s fresh water. In reality, Canada has only 6.5 per cent, and much of this is rather inaccessible, as it flows to the Arctic Ocean or Hudson Bay. Moreover, much of it is non-renewable. The 2011 IISD report, Water Security in Canada: Responsibilities of the federal government, discusses vulnerabilities in Canadian water security and makes recommendations for federal government action. Specific topics discussed in this report include fisheries and fish habitat, surface water monitoring, groundwater monitoring, pollution control, instream flows, boundary and transboundary waters, interprovincial waters, bulk water exports, navigation, water demand management, water on federal lands and drinking water.
1 Norman, E., Bakker, K., Cook, C., Dunn, G. & Allen, D. (2010). Water security: A primer.
