According to an article in the Globe and Mail I read today the bulk water export issue may be resurfacing. Sorry the article is not available online unless you're a subscriber but if you get a copy of the paper look on page B2 for the article.
There are several reasons this is a problem and the article does an excellent job of explaining them. One of the most interesting aspects was the economic impact. If water were exported to the US then that would be less water available in Canada. That's pretty obvious but if you think about in economic terms and remember the concept of scarcity water could get pretty expensive in Canada. Another statistic in the article that scared me was that it takes four barrels of water to make a barrel of oil in Canada's oil sands. Think of that next time you fill up.
Once water becomes a traded commodity under NAFTA provisions what can be done to protect supplies? What happens if Canada pollutes the water and then exports it? Can the trading be stopped? So many questions.
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