Canadians depend on water in many ways. Typical uses include: drinking water, electricity generation, agriculture, habitat for fish and other aquatic life, industry and recreational use.
Associated with these uses, water-related decisions are made on a daily basis. These decisions range from "where to build a new drinking water treatment plant?" to, "where are the water levels best for a weekend kayaking trip?".
Without exception, the ability of decision-makers to access comprehensive, comparable, nation-wide water information is extremely limited. Water information in Canada is highly distributed within federal, provincial and municipal databases. The shared responsibility for water quality, quantity, and use is a key challenge to ensuring that scientists, regulatory agencies, industry, and the public, have access to the relevant and credible water information needed to make better and more informed decisions.
This need for information is a key catalyst for RésEau: Building Canadian Water Connections — a one-stop web portal that will help demonstrate effective approaches to respond to environmental information needs.
