Water quality and quantity are fundamentally connected to one another and
cannot be examined or managed in isolation from each other. For this reason,
it is important that water management decision-making processes include the
following objectives:
Conserve Water
Water conservation is critical to the long-term security and prosperity of
the region, and contributes economic benefits to municipal water systems,
water infrastructure and directly to the users. Further, water conservation
can directly reduce the energy required to treat and transport water. Conservation now can buy time by increasing the resilience of the ecosystem long
into the future. The 2005 Great Lakes St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable
Water Resources Agreement commits the provinces to creating conservation
plans. These plans will need tangible targets and timetables to transform
Great Lakes residents from the largest global wasters of water into true
stewards.
Protect Source Water
Source water protection must be viewed as a preventive method of protecting
local health and reducing the costs associated with water-borne
illnesses. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River serve as a source of
drinking water to almost 10 million in Canada and over 30 million residents
in the United States.16 It is important that regional source protection efforts
respect and incorporate commitments under the Great Lakes agreements,
and vice versa.
Elimination of toxic substances and addressing climate change are also crucial
to protecting water quality. These issues are addressed in section five.
References
[16] Great Lakes Commission. (2004). Resolution: Protecting Drinking Water Security in the Great Lakes Basin. Available at: www.glc.org/about/resolutions/04/05drinkingwater.html.
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