Canada has a global reputation of having abundant, clean water, and water is essential for life and for food security. A new report from the Canadian Agriculture Policy Institute (CAPI) takes a look at Canada’s water resource and whether or not it’s being managed to the full benefit of Canadians.
Tyler McCann, managing director of CAPI, says it’s clear Canada needs a national action plan for water, including consensus on how to measure water, how to best use it, and how to conserve it.
“Water is an increasingly critical resource that we take for granted,” he says. “We don’t need a strategy, we need action.”
Achieving this is no small feat, as waterways cross municipal, provincial, and even international boundaries. McCann says action on the water file will mean coordination and cooperation with multi levels of governments, landowner, processors, and Indigenous peoples.
Looking forward, McCann says it’s clear the American model of water management for agriculture does not work, and Canada needs to take a different approach. The report calls for Canada to be more thorough on understanding water dynamics, and to focus funding in mission-driven research that’s targeted specifically to water management.
It’s also clear that there is real potential of water use in agriculture that could contribute to food security both here at home and abroad, McCann says.
Check out the full conversation, below:
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