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News Splash
Canadian Water Network's
Quarterly Newsletter
CEO update
Welcome to CWN’s first quarterly newsletter! In each newsletter, you will find news on CWN’s activities, insights and opinions on water-related topics, relevant national or federal updates, an interview with a thought leader, and notable research and innovation in the water space.
In this edition, we bring you:
- Upcoming event: Save the date for our Blue Cities conference to be held October 24-25, 2023 in Toronto.
- CWN updates: Activities undertaken by the Canadian Municipal Water Consortium.
- Feature article: Climate impacts on water resources — is Canada prepared?
- Federal and national headlines: Highlights from the 2023 federal Budget, including the creation of the new Canada Water Agency, funding for the Great Lakes and other priority watersheds, and new federal procurement rules related to achieving net-zero emissions.
- CWN’s interview with a thought leader: Stephanie Thorassie, executive director of the Seal River Watershed Alliance.
- From our global research and innovation partners: A novel approach for assessing the toxicity of water bodies in the Netherlands and how Perth has adapted to water scarcity as the ‘new normal.’
I hope you enjoy reading about CWN’s news and views. We would love to hear from you. Please let us know what you think of this newsletter, its format and its contents. What did you find most interesting? What do you want more information on? Feel free to send your comments to CWN’s Communications Manager Simran Chattha at schattha@cwn-rce.ca.
Best Spring wishes from CWN,
Nicola Crawhall, CEO
Save the date: Blue Cities 2023
Moving Forward Together
Improving our health, communities and climate through water
October 24-25 | Toronto
bluecities.ca
CWN updates
Canadian Municipal Water Consortium (CMWC) program update
Over the past year, the CMWC hosted conversations on topics of interest to municipal and utility leaders. These conversations focused on topics like setting levels of service, how utilities can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and utility affordability.
Does Canada need to worry about water scarcity?
Halfway through the United Nations' Decade on Water, UN agencies have declared that the world needs to accelerate actions to protect water in the face of major challenges. The greatest of these challenges is climate change. Should Canada be worried?
Federal updates
Budget 2023 is a freshwater budget
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland delivered the 2023 federal budget on March 28. While most measures that caught the headlines were focused on cost-of-living relief, Budget 2023 was the most significant freshwater budget in decades.
New investment to help protect Great Lakes
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the Government of Canada is investing $420 million over 10 years to help protect and restore the Great Lakes. The announcement was made during U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Ottawa on March 24.
New initiative to help reach Canada's net-zero commitments
The Government of Canada recently announced new initiatives to reach its net-zero commitments. Although these initiatives don’t impact local governments directly, related initiatives have the potential to open doors for local governments.
Thought leader interview
Protecting the Seal River Watershed
The Seal River Watershed is located in the traditional lands of the Sayisi Dene, the Northlands Dene, the Barren Lands First Nation and the O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation. Together they make up the Seal River Watershed Alliance, which has been pushing for the establishment of an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area for years. The 50,000-square-kilometre protected area would preserve the Seal River as the last major undammed river in Manitoba.
International insights
Perth, Australia: An innovative city in a rainfall-constrained world
Perth is a city of around two million people in Western Australia. After watching its inflows reduce steadily over 40 years, Water Corporation – the water utility for Perth and most of Western Australia – embarked on an innovative program to diversify its water supply in the face of a drying climate.
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