Water,
our provincial heritage
Globally, water supplies are abundant,
but they are unevenly distributed among and within countries.
The same is true of Canada, and Saskatchewan. On a national
basis, Canadians are blessed with a large supply of fresh
water, but we also have a semi arid zone stretching from southern
Alberta across Saskatchewan to southwestern Manitoba where
water supplies are perhaps diminishing. In southern Saskatchewan
about half of the water used comes from the Saskatchewan River.
Taken as a whole, this river system also supplies the majority
of water used for purposes such as agriculture, recreation,
hydroelectric production and other industrial uses. In northern
Saskatchewan, residents have some of the best water resources
on earth. Northern lakes and rivers provide a large and renewable
supply of clean, fresh water.
But about 45 percent of the province’s
population, mainly rural residents, also depend on other water
sources. The challenge is to find ways of ensuring access
to sufficient supplies of potable and affordable water. It
is vital to ensure that industrial, agricultural and municipal
effluent does not pollute these surface or groundwater sources.
A growth area for the agricultural
sector is intensive livestock operations and food processing.
Both depend on a reliable supply of potable water. Growth
in manufacturing and resource based industries also depends
on reliable water supplies. Good water management also dictates
that considerations must go beyond human needs and also address
the overall water requirements of the ecosystem itself.
To better meet growing water-related
challenges, the Saskatchewan Government has made a number
of changes to how it regulates and manages this vital resource.
The Province recently introduced a Long-Term Safe Drinking
Water Strategy that focuses on protecting source water supplies,
increasing regulations and assisting municipalities with developing
adequate water service facilities.
A number of changes to departments
and agencies involved with water have been made including
the reorganization of the SaskWater Corporation and the creation
of the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority. The new mandate of
SaskWater is to operate as a water utility, providing water
to communities, irrigators and industrial users. The newly
created Saskatchewan Watershed Authority has a mandate to
manage the province’s water resources and to ensure that
good source water protection practices are understood and
implemented. Recent changes have also strengthened Saskatchewan
Environment’s mandate as the province’s water regulator.
A long-term drinking water strategy,
featuring strengthened source water protection and strengthened
water regulation are all changes that have improved Saskatchewan’s
ability to manage this important natural resource. |
