POLIS Water Sustainability Project

Because River Network's focus is on the United States, we occasionally forget that our friendly neighbors to the north (you know, Canada!) are also doing some great work dealing with water and climate change issues. The POLIS Project for Ecological Governance is one such organization, having launched its Water Sustainability Project at the University of Victoria in 2003.

Likely due, in part, to its location at the University of Victoria, the POLIS Project takes a research-based, multidisciplinary approach to water management that cuts across numerous fields of study. According to their website:

The Water Sustainability Project (WSP) recognizes that water scarcity is largely a social dilemma that cannot be solved by technical innovations alone. Instead this crisis of governance must be addressed through new integrated approaches to water management and decision-making that embeds the notion of ecological sustainability in government, business and industry, and civil society.

By focusing on fundamental governance issues such as long-term comprehensive watershed based planning, decision making, innovative institutional and ecosystem-based legal reforms, the WSP seeks to establish a new water paradigm based on conservation, stewardship and sustainability. To address this challenge the project is divided into three core research themes crucial to a sustainable water future:

The WSP has three main areas of focus: Water Conservation and the Soft Path, the Water-Energy Nexus, and Water Law, Policy and Governance. As you could probably guess, I have been most interested in their water-energy nexus work.

When I was at the water-energy workshop in Austin, TX I had the opportunity to meet Carol Maas, a researcher doing the a lot of the WSP's water-energy nexus work. Carol recently finished a report called "Greenhouse Gas and Energy Co-Benefits of Water Conservation," which is the most thorough analysis I have found of the actual energy and greenhouse gas reductions that are acheived through water conservation. While the report is definitely worth the read, its findings are expressed in metric units, which makes it difficult to comprehend for all of us Americans accustomed to gallons and pounds.

Another exciting project that the WSP has been working on is the development of water-energy tools, or calculators. Carol was kind enough to show me her "WaterSmart Scenario Builder," which is an analysis tool that facilitates a systematic approach to determining the potential for water and energy savings through application of water conservation and efficiency measures. A beta version of the tool is available and I highly recommend anybody interested to contact Carol Maas to access the WaterSmart Scenario Builder. Keep in mind, the units will all be in metric.