Tuesday, March 19, 2013

region. Thousands of Canadians living on First Nations reserves consistently lack access to safe, reliable drinking water a problem estimated to cost $1.2 billion. Our current water and wastewater infrastructure funding structure is so unsustainable that the cost just to repair or replace the systems already in place is over $31 billion. Even on the shores of the largest system of fresh, surface water in the world, the Great Lakes, there are indications of stress. Extensive algal blooms have been increasing since the mid-1990s. Phosphorus levels are increasingly exceeding bi-national water quality targets, there are growing dead zones in the lakes bottom waters, and more frequent fish kills. These signs are definitely cause for concern, especially considering that the Great Lakes supply drinking water to over 26 million people, support a $200 billion economy and produce over 110 million pounds of commercial fish every year. So what can we do? The good news is that all water is connected and even the smallest actions can have a significant impact. When you improve the quality of a stream, you inevitably improve the quality of all of the downstream waters. With the support of a Freshwater Future Climate Grant, the Forum for Leadership on Water (FLOW) has started a project based on this upstream-downstream connection. While this is a small project with a very short 6-month timeframe, it has potential to positively impact Ontarios water quality. The most obvious benefit would be through the implementation of effective solutions to reduce phosphorus loading to the river, which could have a notable impact on Lake Eries phosphorus levels. But also, the projects methodology could be shared widely, leading toward an improved understanding of how climate change affects nutrient loadings to rivers across Ontario and even Canada. Our project focuses on Lake Erie because the lakes algal growth and cyanobacteria have been increasing for a decade (e.g., an algal bloom in 2011 extended over 4,000 km2). To do our part, we looked upstream to examine the source of some of the problems in the lakes largest tributary on the Canadian side the Grand River. What we know so far by working with the local watershed organization, the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA), is that most of the nutrients are coming from nonpoint sources, which are created when water from rain or melting snow carries pollutants and nutrients as runoff into waterways and groundwater. The pollution includes a mix of chemicals, including those coming from agricultural and urban sources. Because climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of heavy rain events as well as the frequency of winter and spring snowmelt, we expect that this is leading to an increase in nutrients entering the Grand River and ultimately, Lake Erie. Our first step in our project is to examine runoff data from the past few decades to better understand how climate change is impacting the frequency of surface runoff events and consequently the loading of phosphorus to the river. From climate models and land use information, future changes in loading will be estimated. Next, we will work with the GRCA and local partners to identify options for practical land use solutions, best management practices (BMPs) and policies that will reduce discharge of diffuse sources of phosphorus through adaptation measures to climate change. So on this World Water Day, I ask that you take some time to learn more about global water challenges but also recognize that there are very real and tangible actions we can take in our own communities to treat water in a way that is more consistent with the true value of this precious resource. Consider donating to or volunteering for your local conservation or water organization. Even small actions can have large impacts.

n a country with as much water as Canada, most people believe we are immune to issues of water scarcity, but this is not true. Physical scarcity in southern Alberta, for instance, is so severe that they face constrained economic growth in the