We obviously have differing opinions on both the state of Canadian water security and the approaches that should be taken to rectify the plethora of issues at hand. You mention that the WHO consistently ranks Canada as an excellent provider of safe drinking water, however, such standards are subjective. The fact of the matter is that hundreds of boil-water advisories are issued every year in municipalities across Canada and that people do die from water related illness every year within our nation’s borders. Should an industrialized, water-rich nation like Canada not have the obligation to provide all of its citizens, including aboriginals, with safe drinking water? Furthermore, is it not in Canada’s best interest to ensure continued data collection and the mapping of groundwater reserves? We pride ourselves on having an large share of the world’s fresh water, however many of our water sources are not mapped or monitored.

In your comment you also suggest that Canada’s water problems can be dealt with most effectively by provincial governments. Provincial initiatives are undoubtedly helpful, however, I argue that reforms at the federal level will be the most powerful response. Only a coordinated policy spearheaded by the federal government can adequately address regional disparities and jurisdictional overlap in water management responsibilities. Canada needs an enforceable federal approach to water policy that not only implements legal drinking water standards, but also stresses the importance of sustainability and conservation. Residential water use in Canadian households may be declining, but the quantity of water used in industrial processes and by the natural resource sector (yes, agriculture is part of the natural resource sector) has steadily increased over recent years. It is naive to suggest that cutting back on industrial water use will hurt our industrial capacity. In many cases small infrastructural improvements and modifications can reduce water consumption without having any significant effect on production or output.

Finally, I would like to address your criticism that negotiating an exemption to NAFTA for freshwater is impractical. I agree – it is a toilsome approach and a last resort. Let’s remember though that freshwater is crucial to Canada’s sovereignty and that the United States already has the water resources necessary to sustain itself in the foreseeable future.

Ultimately, this pan-Canadian policy will better equip Canada to deal with future domestic concerns. Equally importantly, it will further Canada’s position as a water leader that is ready to help address the world’s water crisis and recognize the global “right to water.”

The whole issue seems somewhat inflated in significance. We don’t use the second most water per-capita in the world. Canadian per-capita consumption is somewhere below 500 liters per day. The United Arab Emirates, which obtains roughly 80% of its fresh water from desalinization, has a per-capita water consumption of over 550 liters per day. Canada may rank poorly among OECD countries, but internationally, there are plenty of more wasteful nations. Even if our usage is uncomfortably high, our industries are reliant on it, and Canada is afforded the luxury of being able to meet those needs. According to the Keele Water Poverty Index, Canada’s water usage is high, but still well below our capacity. Canadian residential water-usage has even fallen slightly over the past few years. And even if our water usage per capita is enormous, our population is but a fraction of the United States. While we may be wasteful, it seems that we can certainly afford it.

If we really want to lessen our water usage, we should probably focus on reforming our regulation of the agricultural sector. We don’t really need a comprehensive federal system for regulating water use and quality. Instead, we should probably focus on provinces establishing their own regulations based on their own needs, scaling back use where they can without hurting our industrial capacity.

Aside from that, we just need to figure out what to do as the United States becomes more and more reliant on Canadian water. Removing water from the bargaining table hardly seems plausible, if not outright impossible. It seems like there should be more discourse between both side of the matter before decisions regarding Canada-US water relations can be made.