Should Canada allow corporations to sell fresh water in bulk to foreign countries.

Difference between water export and bulk water export. Bulk water export  Large scale removal  By canals, tanker ships or trucks, or pipelines.  Exported from basin of origin Water export  Smaller scale  In bottles

NAWAPA and GRAND Canal Schemes

Water Diversions in the Great Lakes

Supertanker

Bottled water

Arguments against water exports  Environmental consequences.  Economic unfeasibility.  NAFTA   Water exports will not bring water to those who need it most   Water is not completely renewable

Environmental consequences   Disrupts ecosystems   Damages natural habitats and reduces biodiversity   Dries up aquifers and underground water systems   Interrupts river flows, causing widespread flooding   Transport of water causes carbon dioxide emissions   Bottling water causes pollution

Water level reduction

Destruction of ecosystems

Pollution due to the bottling of water

Economic Unfeasibility   Large scale diversions by canals and aqueducts:   Enormous initial investment   Huge operating costs   Long distance shipping by supertanker:   Expensive: costs depend on price of oil   Inefficient: problem of cargo for returning trip   New desalination technology is considerably cheaper

NAWAPA and GRAND Canal Schemes

Economic cost of shipping water by tanker

Desalination plant

Bottled water   Only water export method that has been taking off   1970: 1 billion liters of bottled water sold   2000: 84 billion liters of bottled water sold   ¼ of all bottled water produced is exported   It is the first step in the process of commoditization of water   Approximately 1.5 million barrels of oil are used to make plastic water bottles   Transporting these bottles burns even more oil.

NAFTA

  Sale of a single sip of Canadian water could “open the floodgates” to water corporations   NAFTA implies:   One commercial transaction in any volume of bulk water will legally change all Canadian water from “a public good” to a “commodity”   Once any volume of water is allowed to leave Canada in bulk for the US, that volume can never be reduced unless domestic consumption is also reduced

Water exports will not bring water to those who need it most   If water is exported in bulk those who really need the water would be the least likely to receive it   Water hauled over long distances by corporate- owned tankers would be available only to the wealthy because the motive for export is profit   It would reduce the urgency and political pressure to find real, sustainable, and equitable solutions to water problems in water-scarce countries

Water is not completely renewable   Only 1 % of water in the Great Lakes is replaced through the natural water cycle   99 per cent is fossil water, from the melting of glaciers about twelve thousand years ago   Resources need to replenish themselves   Water flowing into the ocean is part of a natural cycle that has balanced the earth’s ecosystems for millennia

Conclusion   Canada should not allow corporations to sell water to foreign countries because of the disastrous consequences it would have for the environment and the availability of more convenient long term solutions like water desalination and better conservation.