tribe in the Broughton Archipelago. 8 On the shores of James Bay, the Cree people of Kashechewan suf- fered two years under a boil-water advisory before their beleaguered situation appeared in the media as a crisis in October 2005. 9 The panicked applica- tion of short-sighted solutions did not address the faulty design that had located the drinking water intake pipe downstream from the sewage lagoon over ten years ago. 10 Good Water is a Controlled Resource Water, as a utility, is only as good as it is con- trolled. When waters escape control problems en- sue. Consider the anxiety caused by a leaky roof or burst pipe; how a blocked sewer can flood a city intersection; and how the inadvertent contamina- tion of Walkerton’s water led to death and illness. Canadian regulations define safe drinking water through threshold quantities of contaminants known to threaten human health. 11 With about 700 new chemical substances patented each year, regulatory standards cannot keep pace. Water, as shared resource, is mostly publicly managed in Canada. However scarcity always excites the mar- kets and, through NAFTA, Canadian freshwater is at chronic risk of becoming a commercialised com-
Walkerton In the spring of 2000 a powerful storm in Walk- erton, Ontario, catalysed a series of events that introduced the deadly 0157:H7 strain of Escheria coli into the municipal water supply. 3 The pres- ence of these bacteria in the drinking water killed seven people outright and affected many with life-long Hemolitic Uremic Syndrome. The E. coli had its source in the cattle manure spread over Walkerton’s surrounding farms. Systems designed to control water quality failed: the technical and administrative equipment of purification did not purge water’s memory of manure-laden fields. Although triggered by a storm, it was a deadly in- tersection of standard farming practice, poor well design, inadequate privatized water management, and underfunded un-enforced testing regulations that precipitated the fatal contamination. 4 Human practices affect land and water. Water Rights Access to clean drinking water and adequate sanitation was declared a human right by the World Health Organisation in 2003. 5 These declarations crash into the difficult or missing access to these necessities in many parts of the world. Although Canada is a vast territory with 7% of the world’s re- newable freshwater, many here do not have access to clean water and sanitation. 6 The most poorly supplied settlements tend to be smaller communi- ties. 7 This autumn’s twelve-day boil-water advisory in BC may have seemed long to many, but it is short relative to the ten-years-and-counting advisory for the First Nations settlement of the Kwicksutaineuk
ter and sewerage are tied to these same variations in topography. Moreover, the water infrastructure of a large city cannot be the same as that of a smaller settlement. Is it actually possible to ensure equitable access to clean drinking water and good sewerage for communities of all kinds and sizes? This is where the design and planning of cities becomes very im-
portant. Ex-urbis
Imagine the water of a lake in Algonquin Park. Lapping up against a rocky shore of windblown pines and the hull of your canoe, this water evokes an ideal landscape of Canadian tourism advertise- ments. 13 Controlled use saves this park from the worst environmental desecrations of intense hu- man activity, but will this protected landscape survive airborne pollutants and global warming? Maybe the water that we conserve as ‘natural’ is re- ally not that distant from the cultured (treated) wa- ter of the cities. The eminent scientists of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 14 have stated the 90% likelihood that human activity has increased the rate of global warming. Should we be impressed by the power of our collective ac- tions? It is increasingly difficult to separately treat the natural environment and human culture. In this sense, current interdisciplinary strategies seem best equipped to embrace a far-sighted construc- tion of our world. Thinking about water, its sym- bolism, its materiality and its infrastructure joins the scales of personal ablutions, urbanity and en- vironment. Water holds a material memory of the shared world. D
modity instead of a public good. 12 Different Places and Access to Water:
Given that access to clean water is a basic neces- sity, how does the manner in which we manipulate water help or hinder equitable access? Drinkable freshwater is not evenly distributed within Canada. The locations of our towns and cities closely reflect this uneven geography. The infrastructures of wa-
1 See Ivan Illich’s book: H2O and the Waters of Forgetfulness: Reflections on the Historicity of ‘Stuff ’. Dallas: The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. 1985. 2 Water intoxication is often a combination of hyperhydration and hyponatremia where the body’s cells lose their essential sodium levels in an attempt to equalize water within the body. The body drowns at the cellular level. The Sacramento radio station was KDND-FM. The morning show, “The End”, hosted a competition called “Hold your wee for Wii”. How can we distinguish between the need for water and the aesthetic and sensual pleasures of water in human culture? Which shaped the other? Or, put another way, pleasure and necessity are inseparable here. 3 Walkerton’s spring storm is called a ‘60-year’ storm in this online article: ‘Paying the Price for Safe Drinking Water: National Survey finds Canadians Willing to Accept Higher Water Bills’, on the Canadian Water Network website: http://www.cwn-rce. ca/index.php?fa=Media.showFeatureMay2006. 4 See Jody Berland’s article: ‘Walkerton: The Memory of Matter’. Topia: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies . Fall.14 (2005): 93-108. 5 See WHO’s website: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/rightowater/en/. The British Medical Journal survey of major medical innovations since 1840 lists sanita- tion as the most significant innovation: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/334/ suppl_1/DC3. 6 See Environment Canada’s website: http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/en/info/misc/e_FAQ. htm 7 Walkerton has a population of about 4800; Kashechewan is 1700 people strong; and Kwicksutaneuk consists of 650 souls. 8 For BC and Vancouver see: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/sto- ry/2006/11/27/bc-boil-water.html#skip300x250. For the Kwicksutaineuk-ah-kwaw-ah- mish tribe see: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2005/10/31/bc_wa- ter20051031.html.
9 Tidal movement is also an issue as described in Mike Krebs’ article: ‘The Crisis in Kashechewan: Water Contamination Exposes Canada’s Brutal Policies Against Indig- enous People’. Socialist Voice . 57. November 23, 2005. www.socialistvoice.com. 10 See Environment Canada’s website: http://www.ec.gc.ca/CEQG-RCQE/English/ Ceqg/Water/ or Health Canada’s webpage: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/water- eau/drink-potab/guide-recomm_e.html. 11 Muir, Derek: ‘Organic Pollution’. Water in Canada and the World: Rising Tensions in the 21st Century – Issues and Solutions . RSC: The Academies Conference. Canada Science and Technology Museum, Ottawa. 17 November 2006. 12 NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) contains an aggressive clause in Chapter 11 that supports international exploitation of natural and national resources like freshwater. According to NAFTA once a resource has been exported commercially, it automatically falls under the rules of the free trade agreement. Under NAFTA rules a private company can sue a national government for fair market access to the now tradable and commercialised resource. This has a particular impact on the commer- cialization of freshwater resources in Canada and led to a February 1999 federal ban on the export of water from Lake Gisbourne in Newfoundland. Related stories are those of Sun Belt Water’s suit against BC and Canada for their failed water exportation invest- ment and the thwarted export of water from Lake Superior. See also Karen Bakker, Eau Canada , or Eric Reguly’s article: ‘Tories face rising water pressure’. Globe and Mail . Toronto, October 10, 2006: B2. 13 Algonquin Provincial Park was only established after the old-growth forests had already been completely logged. Most old-growth forests and ‘orginal’ landscapes are long since gone in many parts of Canada. 14 The IPCC used an interdisciplinary strategy that they term ‘Earth Systems Science’ to compile their research and conclusions on climate change. Various sustainable design approaches also promote interdisciplinary collaborations, for example: LEED, BREEAM, etc.
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