In early 1984, the government of the day commissioned an inquiry into federal water policy. Towards the end of 1985, the Pearse Commission’s report, Currents of Change, was submitted to a new Minister of the Environment, Tom McMillan. Two years later the Mulroney cabinet approved a Federal Water Policy. The policy remains in place. To the authors of this important new book, that era represents the high point of federal engagement in water matters with today being the nadir.
One of the authors of this book – Pentland – was a key insider in federal water policy development and writes with expert authority. The other author – Wood – is a distinguished environmental journalist who brings many case histories and a graceful style to the text. This review was written shortly after Agriculture Canada issued layoff notices to most of its staff members having professional training and experience in water, and as a hydrologically-moderate flood caused billions of dollars in damages in Calgary. These recent events certainly punctuate the authors’ overall thesis.
The authors begin by highlighting some of the more egregious failures of governments at all levels to protect water supplies, concluding that our approach is the antithesis of “polluter pay”. (Later in the book, they note that the Toronto Public Library receives more revenue from fines in one year than Environment Canada has received in fines in 20 years.) Canada does not fare well in comparisons of municipal water quality with other industrial nations, primarily because of coliform or nutrient contamination.
The third chapter traces the broad sweep of Canadian water management from pre-confederation nation-building projects to the present day. About 100 years ago, the newly-formed International Joint Commission devoted considerable energy to water quality in the Great Lakes Basin. The far-reaching recommendations made at the time would not be taken up until the implementation of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1972. The economic boom through the 1950s and 1960s led to the creation of provincial water management approaches such as conservation authorities and water resources commissions, as well as more attention to combatting water pollution. Improved co-ordination between the federal and provincial governments followed, as did significant federal investments in water research.
The fourth chapter is devoted largely to how the United States and the European Union have approached water and related issues. The United States passed the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Safe Drinking Water Acts, all legally enforceable by the federal government. The Europeans first tackled pollution of the Rhine River then, in 2000, proclaimed the Water Framework Directive. The directive calls for all surface waters to be good quality by 2015 and contains sanctions for non-compliance. The chapter briefly discusses Britain’s cleanup of the Thames River. A similar discussion of the Dutch waterschappen, originating as early as the thirteenth century, would have been a useful addition.
Chapters Five and Six start with a proactive federal government cost-sharing various water initiatives with the provinces and end with federal inattention and the muzzling of federal scientists. The authors tend to lay the failures of provinces to provide potable water and enhance water security on the federal government’s abdication of responsibility. This reviewer is not entirely convinced. The federal government has rarely used its full suite of powers to take on the provinces. On the record, at least in Canada, it is not clear that better federal environmental laws would necessarily lead to better enforcement.
When one examines economic development around the world, it appears almost axiomatic that environmental stewardship is something that is considered when a nation has achieved some degree of national prosperity. Environmental protection is seen as a liability, not an asset, on corporate balance sheets. Chapter Seven asks the question, “Are we rich yet?” Using primarily American and European sources, the authors demonstrate the benefits of environmental regulations in enhancing both corporate and national balance sheets.
Chapter Eight reviews the safety of our water supplies. Small municipal systems, in particular, are subject to many water advisories with First Nations reserves being among the most vulnerable. The constitutional responsibility for water supplies lies largely with the provinces but provision of water on First Nations reserves is a federal responsibility. The federal response to this responsibility has been a long-standing national disgrace.
The authors make a distinction between old hazards and new ones. New threats include persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances such as heavy metals from natural and anthropogenic sources; endocrine disrupters; and volatile organic compounds, usually associated with hydrocarbon production. While contemporary water treatment plants can handle the old threats, they are not designed to handle the new threats.
Books presenting a litany of environmental concerns can often be criticized for their lack of solutions, even if they have value in raising awareness. Other such books present solutions that are clear, simple and dead wrong. Pentland and Wood can be particularly commended for providing two chapters of solutions. One contains the items that “everybody knows” while the second is more provocative.
Nearly all water practitioners will agree that water should be managed on a watershed basis, that both surface and groundwater must be considered as one, that management agencies should bring a broad range of interests to the table, that such agencies should have clear mandates and measurable objectives and be reasonably funded, and that monitoring and reporting of water and related ecosystems need improvement. The authors discuss the desirable outcomes of placing a price on water and cite a number of economic incentives that would lead to more sustainable water management. (This discussion does contain one factual error – Saskatchewan does levy industrial water charges, and the charges are greater for those using water from the South Saskatchewan River where demand is highest.) The authors have a nuanced disagreement on the value of declaring water a human right. Finally, they do not get drawn into the bulk water export issue. They simply note that such proposals will fail on the laws of economics and physics.
The heart of the authors’ solutions is a superb chapter on the duty of governments. The Canadian constitution is rooted in the medieval notion of fealty to the sovereign. We tend therefore to dwell on the powers of the Crown rather than its responsibilities. Our neighbor to the south cast this notion aside with a revolution, thus enshrining the notion of a duty to the governed. In United States law, this appears as the doctrine of public trust. Natural assets are held in trust for the people and the government has a duty to preserve and protect them.
Canadian governments have been notably reticent in defining their duties to citizens while Canadian courts have been a little bolder. The Supreme Court has clearly established the fiduciary duty of the federal Crown to First Nations peoples. The authors argue that a broad federal duty could be established in law. This duty could include the protection of citizens from environmental degradation – a Magna Carta Natura. At present, Canada has a plethora of often underfunded watershed groups that can engage the public in water management issues of local concern. The opportunities for citizens to influence the national government on environmental matters of national or international import remain miniscule, however.
Many readers will find familiar touchstones in this book, but the overall scope and direction are unique. Persons with an interest in water policy, in water history and in water governance, or those with the uneasy feeling that federal environmental stewardship needs work, will find the book useful. The book contains an excellent index and numerous citations. There are a couple of minor geographic hiccups and imported statements from sources that would have been better left to wither, but these are minor quibbles indeed. This book deserves a broad audience.
R. A. HallidayR. Halliday & Associates
© 2013 Canadian Water Resources Association
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07011784.2013.847258