BACKGROUNDER - WATER QUALITY AND FIRST NATION COMMUNITIES

Provision of clean, safe and secure drinking water to residents of First Nations communities continues to be a top priority for the Government of Canada. While considerable advancements have been made to improve water quality in First Nations reserves, much remains to be done.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) continues to work with First Nations and other partners to ensure the safety of water supplies in reserve communities. INAC has completed a review of standards and an assessment of water and wastewater systems on reserve. Work has already begun with expansion of operator training and certification, and an assessment of monitoring, reporting and protocols to mitigate emergency situations.

To this end, the Government of Canada, as committed in the Speech from the Throne, allocated in the 2003 budget $600 million of new funding over five years. This will help to close the gap in life chances between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians and build healthy communities.

INAC and Health Canada will be proceeding immediately with the implementation of the First Nation Water Management Strategy to ensure that water and wastewater facilities in First Nation communities are brought up to standard. Working with its partners, both INAC and Health Canada developed the strategy to address crucial elements of sound water quality management, using a multi-barrier approach. Elements include a set of clearly defined standards; appropriate infrastructure; efficient and effective operation and maintenance carried out by trained and certified operators; and a strong, transparent compliance regime, including regular inspections, monitoring and reporting. More broadly, the strategy requires the establishment of partnerships including federal and provincial agencies to assist with watershed and source water protection as well as advances in science and technology.

Roles and Responsibilities

Responsibility for drinking water is shared between First Nation Band Councils and the federal government. Generally, First Nation Band Councils have had prime responsibility for ensuring that water facilities are designed, constructed, maintained and operated in accordance with established federal or provincial standards, whichever are more stringent.

INAC provides funding to First Nations to assist them in the provision of water services within the reserve community and monitors the design, construction and maintenance of the facilities. INAC also provides funding assistance for operating and maintaining First Nations water and sewer facilities, and for the training of staff, including water treatment plant operators, who will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of these facilities.

Health Canada (HC), in collaboration with the provinces and territories, establishes the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality and works in partnership with First Nations to ensure that drinking water quality monitoring programs are in place.

Action Taken To Date

Between 1995 and 2001, INAC invested over $560 million to address urgent water and wastewater system upgrades. This is in addition to the $100 to $125 million normally provided annually by INAC to support water and wastewater facilities in First Nation communities.

In 2000-2001, INAC began expansion of its support for operator training and certification. This included the current Circuit Rider Training Program (CRTP) introduced in the mid-1990's to improve operation and maintenance of water facilities. Under the CRTP, a qualified person trains the operators on site using the equipment they will be operating .

Expansion continued in 2001-2002 with the objective of including all operators who had not yet received CRTP or equivalent training. In fact, an additional $1.2 million for 2001-2002 allowed INAC to expand the CRTP by an additional 163 operators for a total of 469 water and sewer operators. Also, the number of operators taking certification training and exams increased from 49 to 96.

This expansion of the CRTP continues. Expenditures of $5 million were made for operator training and certification last fiscal year. And, an additional $4.1 million has been committed for 2003-2004.

In the short-term, INAC will continue to expand training programs to ensure that all operators have the skills, knowledge and experience required to fulfill their responsibilities. Working with First Nation organizations and trainers, INAC is developing a strategy to ensure that each water plant on reserve is run by a certified operator by April 2006.

In 2002-2003, the department allocated over $215 million for capital improvements to water and sewer systems, $45 million to support the operation and maintenance of these facilities and $5 million to support operator training.

Health Canada has invested $5 million to monitor drinking water quality in First Nations communities. Program activities include testing and sampling drinking water, reviewing, interpreting and disseminating results, and, if potential problems are identified, making recommendations to Chief and Council for their action.

A comprehensive on-site assessment of all First Nations water and wastewater facilities was undertaken by INAC. The results have now been compiled and are outlined in the report entitled National Assessment of Water and Wastewater Systems in First Nations Communities. As the assessments were done, results were shared with the individual communities, and where potential risks were identified, necessary precautions or corrective measures have been taken. INAC has up-to-date information on the number of community water and wastewater systems that meet federal health and safety parameters, those that do not, and the level of improvement required in the area of operation and maintenance.

The major findings of the assessment are as follows

Of the 740 water systems that were assessed, 29 per cent (218) were classified under Category C as posing potential high risk that may negatively impact water quality. These systems were operating but were not consistently meeting safety parameters as well as experiencing operational difficulties. This does not mean that water in those communities was not drinkable at all times. Should an immediate threat to the health and safety of the community be identified, such as the presence of E. Coli in the community's drinking water, it is the responsibility of the First Nation to take necessary action to protect the residents. In a situation where water is considered unsafe for consumption, Environmental Health Officers (employed by Health Canada or First Nations stakeholders) immediately advise Chiefs and Councils to issue Boil Water Advisories (BWA).

Of the 462 wastewater systems that were assessed, 16 per cent (74) were classified under Category C as posing potential high risk resulting in wastewater quality problems related to sewage discharge. Repetitive incidences of not meeting the federal guidelines and frequent operational difficulties resulted in this classification.

INAC and Health Canada will assist if needed to ensure the safety of the community including the provision of a continued supply of safe drinking water. This may include the provision of bottled water or undertaking other necessary measures until the problem is rectified. According to the latest information from Health Canada, 8% of the total First Nations drinking water distribution systems south of 60 are under a Boil Water Advisory.

The results of the assessment have been given to Chiefs and Councils of First Nation communities and actions to correct deficiencies are being taken.

INAC is already taking action to correct many of the deficiencies that were identified. These corrective measures vary depending on the type of problems encountered in a given facility. Remedial work has been initiated to deal with the systems classified as high risk. INAC has been putting resources towards the improvement of water systems including priorities such as major repairs, improvement of treatment processes and additional support to operators. While some deficiencies are easily eliminated, for example by purchasing water chlorinators, others will require adequate time and resources. Major improvements to a facility or construction of a new water treatment plant requires further study and design.

Action has also been taken on a number of other fronts:

• an examination of North American water and wastewater standards, including the application of US standards on Tribal lands;
• a review of current operation and maintenance policies, procedures and practices, coupled with an assessment of current funding levels and methodologies;
• an examination of current public awareness materials available within the Government of Canada (INAC, Health Canada and Environment Canada) and elsewhere;
• work on the sharing of critical information and coordination between departments, and the establishment of monitoring, reporting and communications protocols.

The seven-part First Nations Water Management Strategy

This work by INAC and HC has culminated in the development of a seven-part First Nations Water Management Strategy to be implemented over a five-year period. The strategy allows for the development and implementation of:

1. a plan to upgrade and build water and wastewater facilities to meet established design, construction and water quality standards with a priority on identified facilities,
2. an effective water quality monitoring program combined with a comprehensive and coordinated compliance and reporting regime that will improve the detection of drinking water problems in a timely manner thereby reducing the possibility of risk to health,
3. an effective and sustainable operation and maintenance (O&M;) program designed to ensure the safety of the residents and the protection of the assets with a priority on identified high risk facilities,
4. a plan for the continued expansion and enhancement of training programs, to ensure that all operators have the skills, knowledge and experience required to fulfill their responsibilities, supported by the introduction of mandatory certification requirements for all operators,
5. a set of integrated water quality management protocols with clearly defined roles and responsibilities consistent with national performance standards along with improvements in emergency response procedures,
6. a public awareness campaign aimed at informing both First Nation decision-makers of their roles and responsibilities in ensuring the safety of water supplies within their communities and First Nation households of measures they can take to protect the quality of water within their home and community, and
7. a comprehensive set of clearly defined standards, protocols and policies, using a multi-barrier approach.

The strategy will also require the establishment of closer partnerships amongst key federal, provincial/territorial, industry and other public sector partners. These partnerships will assist in areas such as watershed management and source water protection as well as advances in science and technology.

Most importantly, the implementation of the strategy and the development of a detailed plan will require close collaboration with First Nations.

The strategy is consistent with the broader national approach and is modelled on the enhanced management regimes in place or being implemented in most provinces and territories.

Statistics

Current INAC data indicates there are over 760 community water treatment facilities on reserves across Canada. These would normally include water treatment plants servicing five or more houses.

Work has been ongoing on water and sewer facilities identified in the assessment as needing improvements to preserve the health and safety of reserve residents. The remaining issues will be resolved after the completion of engineering studies or through the monitoring of operation and maintenance practices.

Current data indicates that of the 89,897 on-reserve houses, approximately 2,145 homes have no water service and 4,668 have no sewage service. These homes are located in a number of remote communities.

May 2003

National Assessment of Water and Wastewater Systems in First Nations Communities

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Fact Sheet - First Nation Water Management Strategy

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