Water Projects

• Maintaining the Flow - In Canada and around the world, consumers, industries and governments are adjusting to a new environmental reality where resources are becoming increasingly scarce as worldwide demand for food, energy and water increases. As a result, there is a shift to finding and capitalizing on new energy sources, including renewable and unconventional sources, while still relying on conventional sources. There is also a shift towards finding solutions to potential conflicts between multiple stakeholders vying for the same water supply. In this changing landscape, the interface between water supply, energy production and consumption, and other sectors such as agriculture, will become even more important.
  
  This project will (1) explore a variety of “stress-points” related to the water and economy interface; (2) draft one broad front-end report, followed by several digestible policy briefs on each stress point and link these topics into current work underway at Canada West Foundation and in the broader research community; and (3) actively focus on engaging stakeholders and the public through an aggressive communications strategy in order to encourage a franker public debate about western Canada’s economy and water supply. The overarching goal is to ensure that western Canadian water circumstances, expertise and innovation inform the national water policy debate. We will pursue this through strategic collaboration and consultation with other policy groups and experts and through brief but frequent policy commentaries.
• The Water Pricing: Seizing a Public Policy Dilemma by the Horns project explores the current state of water pricing in Canada and take a closer look at water pricing in the Canadian context. Although Canada is not facing a national water crisis, some parts of the country are beginning to experience water challenges. Strains on water supply can impact both regional economies and the Canadian economy as a whole. Examining this issue is critical to ensuring that Canada’s water policy is proactive rather than reactive. The results of the project are summarized in a series of backgrounders and two reports.

Past Research on Water

• From H20: Turning Alberta's Water Headache into Opportunity 
• Balancing Act: Water Conservation and Economic Growth- This report explores new and innovative water conservation policy options that can result in the decrease of Alberta’s water resources demands. It locates barriers blocking water conservation initiatives and make recommendations for how to address these barriers and improve water conservation.
• Drop by Drop: Urban Water Conservation Practices in Western Canada - This report focuses on municipal water conservation policy in six large western Canadian cities, highlighting barriers that hinder the implementation of effective urban water conservation policy, and recommends how to overcome these barriers and to improve water conservation policy.
• Regional Water Works: Sharing Urban Water Services- Centered on the current regional water state of six large western Canadian cities, this report discusses the case for sharing urban water services, uncovers practical lessons on how to do so, and proposes recommendations for increasing the amount and effectiveness of regional cooperation.
• On Tap: Urban Water Issues in Canada - This report provides an overview of Canadian water policy issues, placing a strong emphasis on urban water. It focuses on why Canadians should be more concerned with water policy, the dependency of water availability on urban centres, and the roles of municipal governments in water policy.
• Industrial Water Use
• Ground-Water Resources of Nelson, Churchill and Missouri River Basins, and Mackenzie Drainage Basin
• Nature's Lifeline: Prairie and Northern Waters
• Irrigation Water Use: Western Prairies
• Future Water Use in Hydro-Electric and Thermal-Electric Generation
• Surface Water Hydrology
• Water Canadian Water Resources Law
• History of Irrigation in Western Canada
• Prairie and Northern Waters