Indigenous Sustainable Water Management
Indigenous Communities throughout Canada suffer from inadequate or limited access to clean water. Many communities do not have access to safe and reliable treated water sources and therefore rely on groundwater, stormwater, river or lake water that has to be treated prior to its use in homes. Furthermore, hundreds of Indigenous Communities have been on boil water advisories for decades.
With the limited clean water supply that Indigenous Communities have access to it is critical to efficiently and optimally use water. This can have major environmental, economic and public health benefits by helping to improve water quality, maintain aquatic ecosystems, and protect drinking water resources.This list of measures below is not meant to be comprehensive, but rather a starting point.
- Designate a water efficiency coordinator
- Develop a water efficiency plan
- Set targets for weekly, monthly and yearly water use
- Educate and involve Nation members in water efficiency efforts
- Implement a water-loss management program
- Engage all community members in understanding and acting on their role in conserving water
- Install high-efficiency fixtures and toilets or retrofit water-saving devices on existing ones.
- Install faucet aerators and low flow shower heads in municipal buildings.
- As band owned appliances or equipment wear out, replace them with water-saving models
