Location
Ceremonial Mootcourt Room
Start Date
2-7-2012 3:00 PM
End Date
2-7-2012 4:40 PM
Description
This paper will survey the status of watersheds in the Canadian legislative and regulatory framework at the federal and provincial levels. While some watershed-oriented regimes such as Conservation Authorities in the province of Ontario have been in place for a number of decades there have been numerous recent developments. These have been encouraged in part by source water protection planning as encouraged through the work of the Walkerton Inquiry and to some degree in conjunction with the Watershed Initiative of the International Joint Commission.
Notable provincial initiatives are evident in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and Nova Scotia or are under consideration in British Columbia. In addition to general frameworks that operate on a province-wide basis, several highly localized or watershed-specific arrangements have been put in place. Several of these (Lake Simcoe, Ontario, and the Okanagan Basin, B.C., for example) will be examined in detail.
Apart from formal legislative arrangements, watershed governance initiatives have emerged through the work of citizen organizations and environmental ngos (Fraser River Council; Ottawa Riverkeeper; Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation, for example)
The proliferation of watershed initiatives in all forms is noteworthy, as is the multi-stakeholder/ governance-oriented configuration of many of the existing arrangements. The paper will provide some preliminary assessment of notable strengths and weaknesses observed to date, accompanied by reflections on the influence of various objectives (public health; economic development and security; maintenance of ecological services and so on) that have contributed to the current round of watershed-based planning and decision-making.
Presentation
Included in
Canadian Experience with Watershed Protection and Governance
Ceremonial Mootcourt Room
This paper will survey the status of watersheds in the Canadian legislative and regulatory framework at the federal and provincial levels. While some watershed-oriented regimes such as Conservation Authorities in the province of Ontario have been in place for a number of decades there have been numerous recent developments. These have been encouraged in part by source water protection planning as encouraged through the work of the Walkerton Inquiry and to some degree in conjunction with the Watershed Initiative of the International Joint Commission.
Notable provincial initiatives are evident in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and Nova Scotia or are under consideration in British Columbia. In addition to general frameworks that operate on a province-wide basis, several highly localized or watershed-specific arrangements have been put in place. Several of these (Lake Simcoe, Ontario, and the Okanagan Basin, B.C., for example) will be examined in detail.
Apart from formal legislative arrangements, watershed governance initiatives have emerged through the work of citizen organizations and environmental ngos (Fraser River Council; Ottawa Riverkeeper; Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation, for example)
The proliferation of watershed initiatives in all forms is noteworthy, as is the multi-stakeholder/ governance-oriented configuration of many of the existing arrangements. The paper will provide some preliminary assessment of notable strengths and weaknesses observed to date, accompanied by reflections on the influence of various objectives (public health; economic development and security; maintenance of ecological services and so on) that have contributed to the current round of watershed-based planning and decision-making.