A
strategic water plan
Recent public input and a number
of significant events have highlighted the need for greater
attention to water management. The 1997 flood demonstrated
the vulnerability of the Red River Valley and the City of
Winnipeg to major floods. The wetter than normal 1990s exposed
shortcomings in Manitoba's agricultural drainage network.
The expansion of the food processing industry, coupled with
the increasing need for water supplies, exposed the need for
determining sustainable quantities of water withdrawals, water
retention, and treated effluent discharges. Rapid expansion
in hog production has raised public concern regarding aquifer
and surface water pollution. The events in Walkerton, Ontario
alerted people to the importance of monitoring and maintaining
water quality and protecting drinking water sources.
In the light of such emerging issues
and challenges, Manitoba began a series of public consultations
aimed at developing a strategic water plan for Manitoba. The
plan will be comprised of four elements: issue-specific water
strategies, watershed management planning, an updated and
comprehensive legislative framework, and a plan that connects
resources to the strategies.
Issue-specific provincial
strategies
Six policy areas are portrayed
in Manitoba's new water strategy. These issues were identified
by collaborative teams chosen from government, industry and
public interest organizations. Each set of issues has a related
strategy. The issues are:
- Water Quality
- Water Conservation
- Water Use and Allocation
- Water Supply
- Flooding
- Drainage
A seventh issue is education. All
parties involved in the development of Manitoba's new water
strategy recognize how important education and understanding
will be to the acceptance and success of this new approach.
Education is intended to be an integral part of each of the
items above.
Watershed planning
Natural and man-made boundaries
are seldom the same. This is especially so when it comes to
water. Boundaries created by man reflect various administrative
requirements such as international, federal, provincial, First
Nations and municipal boundaries, school districts, health
districts, agricultural districts, conservation districts
and many other types of boundaries. While such boundaries
may serve many useful purposes, they mostly fail to address
the fundamental reality of what happens upstream affects what
happens downstream, sometimes called ‘source to tap’.
Watershed planning and management
comprise an approach to protecting water quality and quantity
that focuses on the entire watershed ecosystem. This is a
departure from the traditional approach of managing individual
water issues. Over the past few years many public forums and
consultative processes have been held throughout Manitoba
to discuss land drainage, water usage and allocation, Manitoba's
water legislation and regulations, drinking water, agricultural
uses, and both the quantity and quality of water. The recommendations
of these reviews are for the adoption of watershed management
planning. Such action acknowledges the challenge, and the
opportunity, for collaborative, community-based problem solving
techniques and the design of effective implementation actions
that can work across many jurisdictional boundaries.
Financial underpinning
In order to implement Manitoba's
new water strategy, financing arrangements must also be established.
Recent reviews have all brought to light the serious shortage
of resources devoted to water and water management. In most
circumstances these shortcomings result from under-funding
by the federal government, the province, municipalities, industry,
and individuals. All parties have expressed a willingness
to address the funding situation.
The challenge for the leaders of
Manitoba's new water strategy is to establish a consensus
on funding arrangements that will enable the strategy to move
forward.
Unique opportunity
Over the past few years Manitobans
have had the unique opportunity to participate in a comprehensive
review and assessment of their water resource, to design strategic
plans that address important water issues, and to address
the legal and financial frameworks that determine what can
be accomplished and how. It has been an important process,
one that has prepared policy makers and water users to better
address the challenges of the 21st century. |
