Notes from Robert Haller, Executive Director

Our tagline at CWWA has been to be THE national voice for water and wastewater in Canada. We put a lot of effort into building awareness of our association to the media so, when a journalist is preparing a story on any water-related issues, they will call us for comment. Sometimes I will try to handle the response on my own, usually I will seek input from our technical committees or specific members ... or more often I defer the journalist directly to the best authority on that issue. Sometimes it works out for us and sometimes it doesn’t. For those of you who have to deal with the media, you know what I am talking about.

CWWA teamed with CAWQ to host our second joint conference exploring water quality research and wastewater management. The 49th Central Canadian Symposium on Water Quality Research and Wastewater Management Conference was held from March 5–7 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.

CWWA is currently planning the 16th Canadian Conference on Drinking Water, to be held in Ottawa from October 26–29, 2014. This is the national conference of the federal-provincial-territorial committee on drinking water, and that group is an integral part of planning and setting the program.

Duncan Ellison has been fighting for water quality and protecting the sacred resource his whole life. This former Executive Director of the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association, and a long active member of national and international standardization, ponders the global water dilemma and the role that standardization can play in solving this universal problem.

Duncan provided an article to the ISO newsletter chronicling his career and continued involvement in standards development. To read the whole article, click "Learn More" below:

Edmonton—Civil and Environmental Engineering professor emeritus Daniel Smith has been named to the Order of Canada. Smith was appointed officer of the Order of Canada for "his contributions as an environmental engineer, designing water and energy management systems in northern Canada," according to a citation from the Governor General’s office.

On February 15, 2014, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) released draft regulations under section 36 of the Fisheries Act to provide a regulatory framework to permit deposits of deleterious substances.

The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) posted online, February 6, 2014, notice that Canadian Water Quality Guidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Life – Cadmium is now available on the Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines (CEQG) website and the CEQG Summary Table. The scientific criteria document has also been posted online.

Download the scientific criteria document by clicking "Learn More" below:

Environment Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Program (GHGRP) is now accepting greenhouse gas (GHG) reports for the 2013 calendar year via Environment Canada’s Single Window Reporting System.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) published in the February 15, 2014 edition of Canada Gazette Part I, proposed Experimental Lakes Area Research Activities Regulations.

Federal Minister of Transport, Lisa Raitt, announced February 19, 2014, new funding to increase the number of flights to monitor and detect pollution from ships in Canada’s waters. The additional funding allows for significantly more flight hours to be logged under the national Aerial Surveillance Program (NASP) — the government’s primary tool for detecting ship-source pollution.

The Centre for Biosecurity is seeking your help in establishing a Canadian baseline for laboratory acquired infections (LAIs) through an online survey.

A number of environmental iniatives in Ontario are stalled, due in large part to the tenuous minority government. With the possibility of an election in the near future the fate of this legislation is unknown.

The following draft regulations under Quebec’s Environment Quality Act were published in the February 12, 2014 edition of Gazette officielle du Quebec:
• Regulation to amend the Regulation respecting wastewater disposal systems for isolated dwellings. The draft regulation addresses problems associated with the discharge of residual water from drinking water treatment systems and discharges of effluent into ditches and watercourses.
• Regulation to amend the Groundwater Catchment Regulation revises the distances to be met in the case of a non-watertight wastewater treatment system or outlet pipe when installing a groundwater catchment work.

Following its members’ keen interest regarding the impact of climate change on water and wastewater utilities, CWWA created a Climate Change technical committee in June 2012. A group of active members of the Association representing the federal and municipal level, private sector and academia joined the committee under the leadership of Hiran Sandanayake from the City of Ottawa.

Water Canada
Small, rural communities in Canada have three general options for managing and treating wastewater: construct a centralized wastewater treatment system, connect to a nearby system, or rely on individual on-site systems.

Water Canada
A recent Canadian report questioned 17 experts about their vision of a water sustainable city: what such a city would look and feel like, emerging innovations in the water sector, the financial, institutional, and technological barriers to progress, and their personal wish lists. Together, they imagined the possibilities in urban water sustainability.

Water Canada
Metro Vancouver will initiate the design of a $13-million biomethane production project at the Lulu Island wastewater treatment plant in Richmond this spring. The project will capture biomethane from sewage and deliver it to FortisBC and its natural gas distribution system. It will then be piped into homes and businesses.

Water Canada
The Serpent River First Nation, located midway between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury, has started work on a new water treatment plant. The $13.36-million project received $12.36 million from the federal government, in addition to approximately $730,000 invested by the First Nation.

Niagara this Week.com
When it comes to water works and repairs in 2014 the city is, at least in part, counting on the province.

Digital Journal
The Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Infrastructure, Communities and Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, and Pascal Bérubé, Minister for Tourism, Minister responsible for the Bas-Saint-Laurent region and Member of the National Assembly for Matane-Matapédia, on behalf of Sylvain Gaudreault, Minister of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy, Minister of Transport and Member of the National Assembly for Jonquière, are pleased to announce today that a water infrastructure project on Route 230 in La Pocatière will benefit from contributions by the governments of Canada and Quebec.

Calgary Herald
As southern Alberta braces for the upcoming spring melt and the anniversary of last June’s historic flood, the Redford government is vowing to spend up to $1.1 billion over the next three years for flood recovery and mitigation projects.

Calgary Herald
A major northwest sewer main project will be completed cheaper and faster than originally anticipated, according to the city.

Edmonton Journal
Epcor Utilities on Wednesday reported net income of $175 million on revenues of $1.929 billion for 2013.

Edmonton Journal
The warm weather has brought puddles of trouble to Edmonton and northern Alberta.
On Saturday, the city received 20 calls about drainage problems from plugged catch basins to ponding. That rose to 200 calls on Sunday and another 80 by noon on Monday.

The Spec.com
"It's been nuts."
That sums it up — in a nutshell — for Dan McKinnon, the city's [Hamilton] director of water.

Leader-Post
A Whitmore Park resident is questioning how the City of Regina prioritizes fixing water main breaks.

Herald News
For years, Rob Jamieson has been investigating how Nova Scotia handles its wastewater and stormwater.

Herald News
There is a term missing in a federal document that has Canadian mayors worried.
That term is "waste-water treatment" and the document is the New Building Canada Fund list of projects eligible for funding over the next decade under the $53-billion program.

The Province
British Columbia has served notice it wants to negotiate improvements to the 50-year-old Columbia River Treaty signed between the United States and Canada.

The Province
The B.C. government took a step toward bringing its century-old water laws into the modern age, introducing the Water Sustainability Act into the legislature Tuesday.

Toronto Sun
The City of Lethbridge has declared a local state of emergency and ordered thousands of residents to boil water for consumption and other use.

The Vancouver Sun
Spilling 650 cubic metres of raw sewage into the waters off Stanley Park will likely cost the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District $110,000.

The Vancouver Sun
B.C. will take a stand on maintaining and modernizing the 50-year-old Columbia River Treaty against the position of American interests to claw back some of the generous payments that come back to the province under the water management deal.

The Vancouver Sun
A radioactive metal from the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan has been discovered in the Fraser Valley, causing researchers to raise the alarm about the long-term impact of radiation on B.C.’s west coast.

Winnipeg Free Press
Another 51 properties found themselves without water service today.

Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg firefighters are asking those who are able to drive to fire halls to pick up their own water do so, so they can concentrate on delivering to seniors, shut-ins and others who can’t.

Winnipeg Free Press
Federal officials say they are in close contact with York Factory First Nation, the remote Manitoba Cree community that lost its water supply a week ago.

Water Canada
Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger announced on March 14 that the province will help cover the costs of a new water metering system in the City of Dauphin. Manitoba will contribute $750,000 to the $1.5-million system and an additional $750,000 to future water supply infrastructure upgrades.

First Nations in this country still struggle daily to get what every Canadian expects as a right: clean drinking water and proper sanitation. Numerous international instruments confirm these as fundamental and basic human rights, including the United Nations Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).