Updates

April 2009: Preserving Ontario’s Freshwater

The Symposium held on March 27 appears to have been a success, attracting 107 participants. We offer three updates:

1. Thanks to all our communication partners, speakers, moderators, volunteers and attendees for their contributions in making the day successful;
   
   
2. Copies of the presentations and a short summary of the final plenary are included in the edited agenda below; and,
   
   
3. Attendee evaluations include the following:
   • Great effort; Lots of fantastic speakers; Wonderful cross-section of attendees;
   • Thanks to the moderators for keeping things on time;
   • Good location on the subway; How'd you serve such wonderful food for this price? And,
   • Our favourite – "At a time when climate change dominates most public discussions on the environment, you should be very proud that you got over 100 people to a meeting on water!"

Comments on the prospect of another Symposium indicated:

• A strong desire to attend if run again;
• A strong preference for few speakers on a focused theme;
• A preference to separate the networking café from the breakout discussions; and,
• A strong preference for facilitated breakout discussions leading to a more formal plenary.

Links to presentations and a summary of the plenary

Keynote presentation- Distilling Key Perspectives on our Freshwater Challenge

Gord Miller, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario

Mr Miller provided a summary of key challenges facing the future health of Ontario’s freshwater, including problems he identified as the Myths of Abundance, Constancy, and Detachment. Click here for a copy of Water Mythology Reprised.

Streams of Action: Updates on Agency Initiatives

Gail Krantzberg, Director, Dofasco Centre for Engineering and Public Policy, Walter Booth School of Engineering Practice, McMaster University, introduced this panel with a short presentation on Great Lakes, Great Responsibilities.

Agency presentations included:

• Rob Messervey, Manager, Water Resources Branch, Ministry of Natural Resources, on The Myth of Abundance;
• Ann Marie Weselan, Manager (Acting) - Water Policy, Land and Water Policy Branch, Integrated Environmental Policy Division, Ministry of the Environment on Water Quality: Challenges and Opportunities; and,
• Aviva Patel, Terrestrial Specialist, Credit Valley Conservation Authority, on Protecting Freshwater through an integrated Natural Heritage System for the Credit.

Pools of Community Expertise

Natalie Helferty, Ecologist, Natural Heritage Consulting, moderated a panel that included representatives from three community sectors: a university, an environmental organization, and the Chiefs of Ontario. Presentations included:

an organization first nation the a members of will introduce three 10-minute presentations and moderate a half hour discussion to follow. Presenters include:

• Prof. Mark Winfield, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University on Urban Growth Management and Water Sustainability;
• Quentin Chiotti, Director, Climate Change Programme and Senior Scientist, Pollution Probe on Climate Changed: Tomorrow is not just another day; and,
• Harmony Rice, who spoke about the emerging First Nations Water Declaration. Harmony spoke mostly without slides but following the Symposium kindly provided this document on the First Nations Water Declaration.

Priming the Pump

This panel offered a series of short comments reflecting on successes, challenges, opportunities, and resource needs, leading to the Networking Café. Of the five panellists, three spoke extemporaneously and two provided presentations, as listed below:

• Bob Duncanson, Founder, Ontario Headwaters Institute on The Need to Preserve Ontario’s Headwaters;
• Jim Robb, General Manager, Friends of the Rouge Watershed on Watershed Management in the Rouge: Politics or Science?;
• Chris Winter, Ontario Smart Growth Network, on The Benefits of Shifting to Smart Growth;
• Dave Belanger, Water Supply Program Manager, City of Guelph, on Challenges for New Water Supply; and,
• Mike Layton, Program Manager, Environmental Defence, on ENGOs, Communities, and Source Water Protection in Ontario

Multiple Currents – The Networking Café

Attendees networked in small groups on themes of common interest focused on:

• Community Stewardship and Codes of Practice;
• Protecting Freshwater Resources in a Changing Climate;
• Expanding the Source Water Protection model to whole watersheds;
• Municipalities and Industry: The Need to Conserve in the face of Growth; and
• Regulations, monitoring and enforcement: Public Participation and Access to Data.

The last two above met as a combined group. Summary comments are included under the Plenary.

Confluence – A Final Plenary and Closing Comments

As there were no formal reports from the breakout groups to the Plenary, this summary has been created by members of the OHI who took notes during the breakouts and the plenary. This summary seeks to provide a strategic grouping of the top ten themes rather than a flip-chart approach to all of the issues that were raised, as follows:

• Freshwater stewardship presents complex sets of issues running from emotional attachment if you live near water to detachment if you just think it comes from a tap;
• Issues such as access to water, its use in industry, agriculture, or by individuals, and its pollution are not fully championed through public education and outreach.
• Increased public education and outreach must thread a balanced path between those upstream and downstream, between the rural and the urban, and between nature, people, agriculture, and industry, and should consider:
  • The use of images and icons that depict freshwater as a public commons; and,
  • Encouraging the development of codes of practice from the bottom up and not just from the top down;
• Agencies at every level must do a better job of providing meaningful, timely, publicly-accessible data on freshwater quantity and quality;
• The Ministry of Natural Resources must have an expanded role in protecting freshwater, wetlands, and headwaters, particularly vis-à-vis environmental assessments and development permitting;
• Conservation Authorities are under-funded and subjected to too much influence by municipal politicians seeking the most economic route to affordable development and increased tax revenue. The development of a new, autonomous, and fully-funded role for Conservation Authorities should be discussed;
• Ontario should extend the source protection model to whole watershed and pursue fundamental changes to business-as-usual practices for land use planning, including the greening of both the development process and the building code, as well as an amended role for the Ontario Municipal Board;
• Ontario, its municipalities, and its utilities should pursue a wide range of water conservation regulations and technologies to leave adequate water for ecosystems, reduce the anthropogenic use of water, and reduce the huge carbon emissions associated with pumping water around the landscape;
• Pressure for increases in water pricing may be as politically difficult an issue as carbon pricing but must be tackled as we approach our carrying capacity for water in south-central Ontario; and,
• Facing a changed climate, with an increasing population and expanding cities, we must help farmers protect watersheds. Economic hardship that could be imposed upon agriculture through societal change, such as possible amendments to the Drainage Act to protect watersheds, must be buffered by financial and other commitments to agriculture.

 

In conclusion, while the Symposium had a high degree of consensus on the need for greater public education & outreach on freshwater as well as better-integrated mandates and increased funding for agencies involved in freshwater, there were two high-notes for the Board of the OHI:

• The admiration and respect throughout the room for the presentation from Harmony Rice of the Chiefs on Ontario on the First Nations Water Declaration; and,
• The degree of commitment and support for the future of agriculture in Ontario.

 

On the former, the First Nations demonstrate a respect for nature, community, and an inalienable right to a clean environment that we all would do well to support and emulate.

On the latter, in a future where we may be living on the edge of our carrying capacity for water, with possibly reduced food supplies from drier climates as well as increased transportation costs for long-distance food, Ontario will need a strong and sustainable alliance between our cities, our watersheds, and our farmers.

The Ontario Headwaters Institute looks forward to helping preserve our headwaters as an important cornerstone of a healthy freshwater future.