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Three essential principles would ensure resilient water ecosystems in Canada.
IN THE SIMPLEST OF TERMS, an ethic is a set of moral principles concerning human conduct in the context of our relationships with one another and with the rest of the world. Ethics can aid in resolving disagreements regarding the way we address problems.
In the case of water, policy experts list three areas of contention. First, we disagree about claims related to the state of our current water supplies, what we know about their condition and what we mean by "adequate" supplies and quality. Second, we are not in accord about how social relationships should be ordered with respect to basic human rights to water, the rights of ecosystems and the competing claims of economic entitlement, such as the rights of people to property and prosperity. Finally, we debate how, or even whether, to weigh these considerations against water's significance to people of often widely differing beliefs or cultures.
The central principle of the contemporary water ethic almost universally practiced in Canada is the primacy of human dominion over water resources. This ethic is founded on the widely held belief that water, as for all of our planet's natural resources, exists to be used at humanity's discretion. In all matters related to water, human uses and needs automatically take priority. That view, however, is being challenged because it undermines the ecological foundation of life on Earth. It is this foundation that makes fife not only possible, but meaningful. Unless we want to contribute to our own decline and that of the global ecosystem and economy, our relationship to water has to become a relationship with water. To do this, we have to change our water ethic.
If Canada is to have a new water ethic, what should it be? More than a dozen principles apply, but space permits the discussion of only three.
Respect for Canada's Founding Water Ethic
Canada's founding water ethic began with North America's Indigenous Peoples. They passed their traditional principles concerning appropriate human conduct with respect to water in both its physical and spiritual manifestations from one generation to another through teachings from elders. By practicing these moral lessons, Indigenous people affirmed them.
In our contemporary legal system, water-use...