The adequacy of federal water policy and the capacity of involvedinstitutions to respond to new circumstances is assessed. Thenature of emerging issues, the state of the resource, futurerequirements for water, interjurisdictional dimensions, scientific and research expertise are considered.[$

Canadian Water Politics explores the nature of water use conflicts and the need for institutional designs and reforms to meet the governance challenges now and in the future. The editors present an overview of the properties of water, the nature of water uses, and the institutions that underpin water politics. Contributors highlight specific water policy concerns and conflicts in various parts of Canada and cover issues ranging from the Walkerton drinking water tragedy, water export policy, Great Lakes pollution, St Lawrence River shipping, Alberta irrigation and oil production, and fisheries management on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

"The report, 'Make It Safe: Canada's Obligation to End the First Nations Water Crisis,' documents the impacts of serious and prolonged drinking water and sanitation problems for thousands of indigenous people--known as "First Nations"--living on reserves. It assesses why there are problems with safe water and sanitation on reserves, including a lack of binding water quality regulations, erratic and insufficient funding, faulty or sub-standard infrastructure, and degraded source waters. The federal government's own audits over two decades show a pattern of overpromising and underperforming on water and sanitation for reserves"--Publisher's description.

Annual report of the Canada Water Act for the fiscal year 1985/6. Activities reportedinclude: the Inquiry on Federal Water Policy, Great Lakes Water LevelsCommunication Centre, federal-provincial cooperation on water resourceprograms, water research, water quality management, regulation of nutrientinputs, and the public information program. Also included are principalfederal-provincial cooperative arrangements under the Canada Water Act andcooperative arrangements funded from sources other than the Canada Water Act.

The Canada Water Act provides the framework for cooperation with provinces and territories in the conservation, development, and utilisation of Canada's water resources. This report begins with an outline of the main issue areas of water policy. It then describes a wide range of federal activities conducted under the authority of the Act during the year, including significant water research, participation in federal-provincial agreements and undertakings, and a public information program.

This republished Special Issue highlights recent and emergent concepts and approaches to water governance that re-centers the political in relation to water-related decision making, use, and management. To do so at once is to focus on diverse ontologies, meanings and values of water, and related contestations regarding its use, or its importance for livelihoods, identity, or place-making. Building on insights from science and technology studies, feminist, and postcolonial approaches, we engage broadly with the ways that water-related decision making is often depoliticized and evacuated of political content or meaning—and to what effect. Key themes that emerged from the contributions include the politics of water infrastructure and insecurity; participatory politics and multi-scalar governance dynamics; politics related to emergent technologies of water (bottled or packaged water, and water desalination); and Indigenous water governance.

This report describes federal activities under the Act, including water research, water conservation & public information programs. Highlights include the conclusion of the Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Waters Master Agreement, the completion of the mandate of the Fraser River Action Plan, and the integration of the National Water Research Institute (NWRI) and the National Hydrology Research Institute (NHRI) into a single unit. Sections cover: water resource management, federal-provincial programs (apportionment, monitoring & survey programs, water management programs, flood damage reduction) and research (St. Lawrence Centre, National Water Research Institute), water quality management, & the public information program. Tables provide information on the status of Water Act agreements, & a summary of designations under the Flood Damage Reduction Program.