Water literacy a key theme of latest Schulich Connects conversation

From aging infrastructure to availability of resources, water has become a major focal point during climate-change conversations.

The debate has intensified in Alberta recently with concerns over drought and the major water main break in Calgary this past summer making many people wonder what happens if the tap runs dry.

The Schulich School of Engineering expanded on the conversation during its Schulich Connects series on Oct. 24, with the breakfast event focusing on Navigating Global Water Challenges: Solutions for Water Security.

Acting as a kick-off event for Women in Water Day, it brought attention to the many issues surrounding our most precious resource with a variety of opinions and perspectives at the table.

“We can’t tackle it in our own little worlds,” said panel moderator Dr. Kerry Black, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering. “We have to work together. We have to work with government and industry and academia and with people at the community level to really be able to tackle these challenges.”

She added diverse people around the table will ultimately lead to innovation and real solutions to the crisis we face.

The need for awareness and investment

Black said one of the biggest challenges isn’t necessarily climate change or infrastructure, but water literacy, adding too many people take it for granted and, as a result, it doesn’t get the attention it needs until it becomes an emergency.

“Our biggest challenge is that we don’t value it enough and when you don’t value something, you don’t prioritize it,” Black said. “When you don’t prioritize it, you’re not going to make investments in it.”

It’s hard for people to fully understand the depth of the problem, especially in a water-rich country like Canada, said AquaAction president and Forum for Leadership on Water member Soula Chronopoulos, one of the panellists.

“My mom has lead in her water and she thinks we’re fine — her water is yellow in Montreal,” Chronopoulos said. “Our hope is that when they (attendees) leave here, they have a better understanding of how real the crisis is, and they help do something about it.”

Hope for the future

Another panellist, Dr. Corinne Schuster-Wallace, PhD, said water drives almost every aspect of our lives, from the economy and industries to recreation and consumption.

The executive director of the Global Institute for Water Security says the world understood the COVID-19 pandemic in a short amount of time, but hasn’t done the same with water.

“We need to understand water,” Schuster-Wallace said. “We need to be more aware of where it comes from, our roles in it, the roles of industry, the roles of government and our role in water around the world, particularly in low-resource settings.”

She cited many Indigenous communities, who are still battling decades-old boil-water advisories, as examples of how this isn’t a new problem.

Dr. Geneviève McCormack, PhD, former director-general of the Canadian Hydrographic Service, says conversations like that hosted by Schulich, as well as the curiosity and drive of students and researchers, will help address the critical challenges we face.

“I think we are in an era of change where we are going to be able to use and access a lot of different types of data because of super-computers and artificial intelligence,” she said. “As technology and data-crunching evolves, we are going to be able to do less of that work ourselves and put our minds to solutions.”

The next Schulich Connects, Balancing Tradition and Innovation in Energy, is scheduled for Nov. 28.