What impacts could bulk water removal have on Canadians?
Water is a finite resource. We have about 20% of the Earth’s freshwater, but only 7% of the world’s renewable freshwater supply the rest is fossil water, water left over from the ice ages trapped in ice, snow, glaciers, etc. Environment The watershed or drainage basin is widely recognized in Canada and elsewhere as the fundamental unit for protecting the quality and quantity of freshwater resources. The approach used in the strategy recognizes that bulk removal of water from drainage basins should be managed differently from within-basin uses. Bulk removal, involves the permanent loss of water to the basin. Given the dependency of ecosystems and communities within the basin on this supply of water, bulk removal is considered to represent an unsustainable use of water. A prohibition on bulk water removal would represent a significant step in protecting the health and integrity of Canada’s drainage basins by: recognizing that within-basin uses are a priority, given cumulative impacts of
