Invited Commentary: Canada Needs a National Water Strategy

Canada, a large and diverse country, lacks an water strategy to facilitate stronger, more effective water management. Several governmental agencies and authorities are making efforts to create a Canadian National Water Strategy (CNWS) in order to eliminate the water problem. The benefits of CNWS include more efficient and effective water management due to clarified responsibilities, increased accountability due to broader stakeholder participation in water governance, and reduced institutional fragmentation and fewer gaps in laws and policies. A process to develop a CNWS can and should be built on the solid foundation of numerous past and current initiatives that aim to coordinate and integrate aspects of water management. A key challenge in developing a CNWS will be to find a way to reconcile and balance the competing interests. Many stakeholders associated with the formation of CNWS will need to see individual as well as collective benefits of having a good strategy.