I’ll just give a quick update on some of the issues we are working on as your advocates:

A meeting between CWWA and the Turkish Embassy was held on February 12th in Ottawa. CWWA’s representative, Adrian Toth was received by the Turkish Consul, Mr. Hakan Cengiz who showed a particular interest in the water sector.

A goal for 2018 is to feature updates from our Technical Committees. Our Committees are the backbone of the Association – providing technical expertise, telling us what the on-the-ground impacts of federal legislation are and helping us shape the technical program for our Events. Many Committees also complete additional projects that help further the Industry.

The Water and Energy Efficiency Committee is incredibly active and is doing some great work to further the understanding of energy and water efficiency and their interrelationship. In addition, the committee works to provide Best Management Practices for water and energy managers in Canada.

Merging all aspects of water management - from wastewater to drinking water to research to utility and infrastructure challenges - the National Water and Wastewater Conference is a truly unique event that fosters national dialogue on the most important national water issues.

The deadline for presentation proposals is March 15, so submit yours soon

World Water Day, March 22, is an annual United Nations day to focus attention on the importance of water. Please join CAWST and many other partners in Painting it Blue – together we can inspire Canadians and spark action.

As we stay snug and warm in our warm comfortable homes where have more than enough food in our fridge..let us not forget all those still suffering from the effects of this year’s series of hurricanes. We remember the magnitude of Harvey then Irma and then Maria that devastated entire nations in the Caribbean. It may seem like old news but the islands are still suffering. Water and electricity are slowly being restored but hundreds houses are beyond repair with thousands more not presently habitable. Water is often only available through standpipes. Water and wastewater utilities are struggling to restore services that we take for granted.

The Green Economy and the Water-Energy-Food Nexus argues that a variety of policies will be required to create synergies between the water-energy-food nexus sectors while reducing trade-offs in the development of a green economy. Despite rising demand for water, energy and food globally, the governance of water-energy-food sectors has generally remained separate with limited attention placed on the interactions that exist between them.

This article was distributed to CWWA members as a Communique

Bill C-68 would amend Canada’s Fisheries Act and other legislation to expand the scope of the law to cover all fish, repealing some controversial changes under former prime minister Stephen Harper that narrowed protections to fish species and habitat related to commercial, recreation or aboriginal fisheries.

On February 8, 2018, the federal government’s Bill C-69 - An Act to enact the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, to amend the Navigation Protection Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts – was given First Reading.

Everyone in Canada deserves access to safe, clean, and reliable drinking water. Our Government is steadfast in our commitment and we remain on track to ending all long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserve by March 2021.

On Jan. 24, 2018, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Jim Carr,announced a $182-million investment to increase energy efficiency by improving how our homes and buildings are designed, renovated and constructed. The funding is part of the Green Infrastructure Fund. Proposals are now being accepted for research, development and demonstration projects.

In its third Environmental Performance Review of Canada, the OECD has released its latest analysis of Canada’s progress towards sustainable development and green growth, with a focus on climate change mitigation and urban wastewater management. Despite Canada’s vast expanses of wilderness, clean air, and abundance of natural assets, the OECD points out many areas of environmental protection in which Canada is lagging behind other nations.

Nestle Canada met with the Six Nations Band Council’s Committee of the Whole (COW) on January 22, 2018 seeking their support for a 10-year renewal of their water taking permit. The water is to be extracted at Nestle’s water-taking and bottling plants located on the Grand River watershed in Aberfoyle and Erin, ON - from the same aquifer that feeds the city of Guelph.

Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine (ES&E)

This issue marks 30 years since the publication of Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine's first issue. As part of our anniversary year ES&E will be revisiting and exploring important topics, technologies and events that have impacted Canada's water, wastewater and environmental protection industries.

Penticton Western News

The City of Penticton is hoping to, well, "wipe out" the problem of flushable wipes.

It’s not really a joking matter. Disposable wipes, while convenient and popular, don’t degrade all that quickly when you flush them down the toilet. The resulting mess has to be cleaned out of lift stations manually, at taxpayer expense.

Water Innovation Magazine

Rising infrastructure needs and double digit rate increases have become the industry standard, and it is no coincidence that customers' expectations are escalating at the same pace.

Water Canada

In a report to its City Council, Kingston, Ontario has found it is well on track to meet its 2020 emissions reduction target, but that it will need additional measures to meet its 2030 target of a 30 per cent reduction, including biogas generated from wastewater processing.

Just off a busy downtown street, the California city of Anaheim operates a wastewater treatment plant. It’s a small plant, but along with other features of the Water Sustainability Campus next to city hall, it has a big impact.

Water Canada

Montréal Mayor Valérie Plante, and the chair of the executive committee in charge of finance, Benoit Dorais, have presented Montréal’s Three-Year Capital Works Program for 2018–2020, outlining major investments in water infrastructure.

Water Canada

In the summer of 2017, the Credit Valley Conservation Authority (CVC) held a workshop that sought to apply old piece of provincial legislation, the Drainage Act, to 21st century stormwater management. Now, the CVC has released a summary paper, following the October technical white paper, Making Green Infrastructure Mainstream: Exploring the Use of the Drainage Act for Decentralized Stormwater Management on Private Property, on how to implement and make use of the Drainage Act.

Water World

It’s hard to believe but it’s already time for us to look ahead to 2018. This past year was an interesting year for water: we saw an uptick in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), more fallout from Flint, a focus on smarter water technologies, lack of government investment in water, and an increasing number of weather events impacting on water infrastructure.

Municipal water and wastewater services are complex systems that vitally impact a community's health, environment, and economy. A new report from Canada's Ecofiscal Commission identifies how user fees can improve conservation, fund infrastructure, and protect water quality while keeping water services fair, ensuring water stays affordable for low-income households.