Canada is one of the countries that top the list of renewable water supply. It is a natural treasure that drought-prone countries strongly desire. The very flow of the river provides us the constant availability of fresh water for our many needs. These rivers, however, are at great risk – a risk that is present due to our own actions; actions that we consider necessary for our daily living: generating electricity, quenching the thirst of expanding cities and producing more food! What exactly threatens our rivers?
The plaque reads "the glacier was here in 1844"
Climate Change
Climate change influences the water cycles all over the world. Even the small changes in temperature and precipitation can consequently affect the magnitude, timing of the flow and the intensity of natural calamities like floods and droughts. Scientists recently have concluded that due to climate change, we can no longer use past data to predict a water supply in the future – we may run out of water.
Withdrawals and Diversions
Global freshwater withdrawal (which is the removal of water from ecosystems for industrial and commercial use) has increased 35-fold in the past 300 years. This commercial use increases by 20% per decade since 1960. We have to keep in mind that when water is withdrawn from the river, the water is then unavailable for use downstream- and the water does not replenish itself.
Here in Canada, there are five main users of water: thermal power generation, manufacturing, municipalities, agriculture and mining. These users of water divert and withdraw a significant amount of water. According to the World Wildlife Fund, Canada has more usage in diversion (moving water from one watershed to another) than any other country. These two processes require large amounts of water thus drastically altering the quantity and timing of river flows. Moreover, these processes do not stop which means that these procedures are also done during droughts and low flows which has great impacts on river health!
Flow Regulation and Fragmentation
Instream infrastructures like dams affect the flow of water by changing the quantity, timing and quality of water. They also change the natural flow of river and sever connections between the river parts. These structures are constructed for the production of hydro power, flood control and storage for water for urban consumption. All these could badly affect freshwater ecosystems and species. WWF reports that in 2000, there are 849 large dams and thousands of smaller dams in rivers and streams. In addition, new hydropower facilities are being built due to a demand for low-carbon energy.
The Mackenzie River, which flows through the Yukon, NWT, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta provides 11% of the freshwater in the Arctic Ocean, playing a significant role in regulation of ocean circulation and Arctic climate systems. Air temperature in the Mackenzie Delta increased by 1.7 degrees Celcius over the past century – more than anywhere else in Canada. The Ottawa River, recognized as being the travel route for First Nations peoples, has an important historical significance. The river provides drinking water to more than one million people and also generates over 4,000 megawatts of hydropower and control flooding. Plus, 85 fish species live there! Over 50 major dams alter the river, thus reducing the magnitude of peak flows. A report also shows that higher temperature will decrease river flow by 1 to 8%.
These are just two of Canada’s great rivers which are being affected. To some, river changes may not be as alarming in comparison to other environmental global concerns, but I don’t believe that means we are not supposed to do anything! We still have the opportunity to avoid this freshwater crisis and to save the rivers.
You can make a difference. Be a part of the global solution to save freshwater by researching and understanding the situation, and connect with organizations who are trying to make a difference. You can make a personal difference in your own home, by conserving water, or even electricity. This will help lower generation of electricity and water consumption which then lowers the disturbance in rivers. We may only be able to do small things but it is better than nothing.
To quote Fred Pearce, “Nothing, perhaps not even climate change, will matter more to humanity’s future on this planet over the next century than the fate of our rivers.”
Act now.
Article and all Pictures are all from a WWF PDF document which can be seen here.
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By Fydez Tan
Blog Writer 2009-2010, Change Tomorrow’s World
Posted by popescus on November 4, 2009 at 1:56 PM
A lot of people don’t realize just how wasteful they are with water or even electricity. While I’m sure most of us don’t see ourselves as being energy inefficient, we all have certain habits that can be wasteful. For example, something as small as leaving the tap running when shaving or brushing your teeth might not seem like a lot, but it is in fact very wasteful. While it is true that alone it is almost impossible to make a difference, it is by taking the challenge to be efficient that we can get more people to follow our lead and hopefully help make a significant difference in the environment.