The health of water

As World Water Week kicks off, I have been greatly heartened to discover that, right here in Manitoba and even across Canada, there’s a broad consensus that we need more — and better — solutions to the water crises we’re currently facing.

According to a new poll, nearly 73 per cent of Canadians believe improving water infrastructure is an urgent priority.

Unfortunately, this sense of urgency is clearly born from that fact that around two-thirds of Canadians have experienced water-related issues in the past five years. Here in the Prairies, the story is even more bleak, with one in three reporting experiences with water main breaks, nearly double the national average.

More than half of Canadians believe these problems are becoming more frequent — likely due in no small part to the ever-intensifying impacts of climate change.

And they are right. As the UN itself plainly states in no uncertain terms, “climate change is exacerbating both water scarcity and water-related hazards (such as floods and droughts), as rising temperatures disrupt precipitation patterns and the entire water cycle.”

Sobering reading, but, as someone who lives in Winnipeg and works to build policy solutions to tackle water-related challenges, I am always looking to focus on the solution as opposed to dwelling on the problem.

Whether we are talking floods, droughts or other water-related risks, I believe we need to seriously bolster our natural infrastructure solutions. In short, natural infrastructure involves using and restoring natural landscapes and systems (think wetlands, forests and rivers) to manage water flow, improve water quality and build resilience against floods and droughts.

These solutions complement, not completely replace, ‘built’ infrastructure systems such as traditional pipes and treatment plants.

Restoring a naturally occurring wetland, for instance, could help it act as a sponge, absorbing excess rainfall during heavy storms to reduce downstream flood risks while filtering out pollutants before the water reaches community reservoirs.

In Manitoba, we are already making headway in normalizing these types of solutions.

The Manitoba Conservation and GROW trust funds provide over $10 million every year for natural infrastructure projects in Manitoba, which, in turn, yield clear societal benefits like the 4,725 acre-feet of flood water storage in 2025. (That’s 2,300 Olympic-sized swimming pools.)

Examples across the province abound, so I will name just a few.

In Brandon, rain gardens help capture runoff, reduce pressure on stormwater infrastructure and build resilience to heavy rainfall.

Selkirk is also busy at work trying to produce potable water from its wastewater treatment plant, which currently provides water for city trees.

And here in Winnipeg, naturalized stormwater ponds manage runoff, improve water quality, support wildlife, enhance green spaces and reduce maintenance costs.

Individual examples dotted across Manitoba provide much needed inspiration. But to truly confront our province’s water issues, we need to go further. And quickly.

Natural infrastructure should no longer be considered an optional add-on, but as a legitimate infrastructure option deserving the same consideration as traditional ‘built’ or ‘grey infrastructure’ solutions.

Protecting natural assets is one of the smartest investments we can make; once wetlands are drained or forests cleared, communities can face far greater costs to replace the water management and other services that these ecosystems provide us naturally.

While provincial and federal funding programs currently allow for natural infrastructure solutions, they are not yet enough to meet growing needs around water supply, flooding, drought and treatment. We need to move from allowing to active enabling and supporting.

There are clear opportunities to prioritize natural infrastructure in flood planning, incentivize projects that can access infrastructure funding, and build professional capacity — but more needs to be done to actively enable and fund these solutions.

World Water Week often affords us cause to pause and consider where the health of the world’s water is headed. And while the focus in ostensibly international, it is at the local level that change is truly seeded.

As Manitobans, let’s aim to set a template for the rest of the country, and the planet, by centring and bolstering natural solutions to water infrastructure issues so that our ecosystems and communities remain resilient today against the water challenges of tomorrow.

Dimple Roy is the director, water, of the International Institute for Sustainable Development — an international think tank based here in Winnipeg.