Finally getting around to penning my ultimate post about the Canadian Water Network's conference, Connecting Water Resources 2013. Today is my impression of Day 3 - 21 March 2013.
Note: There were a lot of Tweeps at the meeting. Be sure to visit #CWR2013 to see them all and get a more balanced perspective than what I can provide. Many of the presentations will be on theCWN WWW site; all plenary session presentations were video-recorded and will be available.
Plenary Session
This session was chaired by William J. 'Bill' Cosgrove, an engineer with over 50 years' experience as a consultant, advisor, World Bank employee, etc. I would call him a éminence grise ("grey eminence") of the Canadian water world. He spoke on Presenting Challenges and Opportunities.
He told of Quebec moving roads that parallel the St. Lawrence River to higher ground because of rising water levels. He mused whether we should send water south - not to the USA - but south to where most Canadians live, since the water tends to flow north (see Don Lowry's comment on Day 2).
There were more words of wisdom (or warning) from Cosgrove.
The UN has 30 agencies that deal with water - more than either Canada or the USA. The Great Lakes are essential to navigation. Canada has the world's largest eutrophied lake - Lake Winnipeg. Alberta has melting glaciers, with less precipitation in the south where there are more people and agriculture. Water is being used to produce energy. Are we swapping food for energy? How about our water infrastructure?
He made an interesting comment about water issues. He had not seen much progress in dealing with world water issues since 1985. The reason? Water professionals have been talking to ourselves. Not a good strategy for getting decision-makers to tackle water issues.
The session's other speaker then took over.
Sara Jane Snook, Deputy Minister of the Environment, Nova Scotia. She provided an update on the Council of the Federation Water Stewardship Council. She spoke of the good work they have done in NS. One factoid I picked up: 40% of Nova Scotians rely on individual wells.
Xavier Chazelle, Chairman of the Board, ACQUEAU (EUREKA Cluster for water). Chazelle spoke on innovation and competitive in the water sector and supporting such activities.
Nicholas Parker, Senior Advisor, the Blue Economy Initiative (BEI), Sustainability
Entrepreneur, Investor, and Public Servant. Surprise! Parker promoted an economic viewpoint.
Parker tidbits: read the BEI Guiding Framework.
He spoke of the 2011 BEI report, Running Through Our Fingers, which describes how Canada fails to capture the value of its top asset. In a 1985 report, Canada's water was valued at somewhere between $8B - $23B. He then made two points: 1) Canada really doesn't know the current value of water to its economy; 2) Canada is missing the bus - its competitors are passing it by vis-a-vis water.
Takeaways: Expand scope of water sector, map assets, move from need to demand for innovation. Aim for 'exportable excellence'.
And I enjoyed Parker commiserating with the USA: "We know what it's like to have difficult people south of the border." Amen!
Panel Discussion
Parker then put on his moderator's hat for a panel discussion.
Bill Mantel, Assistant Deputy Minister (Acting) Research, Commercialization, and Entrepreneurship Division, Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Trade, and Employment. He spoke of Ontario's strong water assets: trained people, management, companies, research, etc., and the need to translate our water assets into opportunities. He noted some of the innovative groups and organizations in Ontario. He also made a hydrologic faux pas: if you stand at Niagara Falls for a year, 20% of world's fresh water flows past. Not really.
Kim Sturgess, CEO and Founder of Alberta WaterSMART. An impressive person, she's been there, done that. She related a story about 'giving away' a technique as a 21-year old physics student that was later patented by someone else, unbeknownst to her.
Tidbits. Very hard to get start-up funding. Banks don't lend money unless you prove you don't need it. The financial system needs to be less conservative. Canada may be too risk averse and intolerant of failure, in contrast to USA. Do we need a Canadian water strategy? Maybe. What I think we need is a sharing of best practices; collaboration may be our best asset as opposed to new technologies.
Xavier Chazelle, Chairman of the Board, ACQUEAU (EUREKA Cluster for water). Chazelle spoke on innovation and competitive in the water sector and supporting such activities.
Parker sums up by asking: What are the real opportunities for Canada to become leader in water innovation?
Futures Panel Plenary
This panel, all too short (barely an hour) was moderated by Geoff Riggs (from Day 1) of IBM. Panelists were: Gemma Boag, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Natalie Prystajecky, University of British Columbia; and Prit Kotecha, Suncor Energy. All three were quite impressive.
Some thoughts from the panelists: consider people, end user needs, networking, mentors, more people, more water for agriculture, sustainability, water management, oilsands....
Closing Keynote
Had an incredible, inspirational closing keynote by Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo. Lord knows that in 40+ years of attending
conference and meetings I cannot recall hearing someone so articulate, thoughtful, lucid, and determined.
I cannot do his words justice by trying to recount them here. Suffice it to say that this was not a rant against the 'oppressors'. The NC clearly, calmly, and forcefully explained that First Nations and Indigenous Peoples are not sharing in the 'Canadian Dream' (my expression, not his). Canadians may be in this together, but his people want self-determination and the ability to chart their own course within the context of the Federation.
After National CHief Atleo, we had a wonderful closing preyer from Elder Gordon Williams.
What a way to end a remarkable experience!
My Ten Cents
I cannot recall attending a conference quite like this one. I am still processing all that transpired and all those I met.
Canada can be a leader in global water management and stewardship. They have the people, technology, and skill. And they do not have the baggage we here in the USA have. More power to the Great White North!
Thanks to Bernadette Conant and the staff at the Canadian Water Network for convening this. I hope to make it again in 2015.
"Canada has an obligation to help feed the world because we have the resources." - Hans Schreier (thanks to Scott Jasechko)
"If climate is a shark, water is its teeth." - Gemma Boag
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