Plans to Export an Abundant But Treasured Natural Resource Put on Hold

Plans to export an abundant but treasured natural resource put on hold

Canada has moved to block the bulk export of its abundant supplies of fresh water to a thirsty world.

The moratorium is aimed at dampening expectations that water can be treated as just another commodity to be traded.

"It is foremost an environmental issue, not a trade issue," said Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy.

Canada has been under huge pressure in recent years to approve large-scale water exports - particularly to the arid southwest of the United States. But the prospect of turning on the taps has made Canadians uneasy, even though water is a renewable natural resource.

The image of clear, fast-flowing streams and rivers is, one MP said, "as Canadian as hockey, as the Mounties, as the beaver".

The potent symbolism of water was endorsed by International Trade Minister Sergio Marchi.

"Canadians feel extremely passionate about water," he said.

"There is clearly a feeling across the land that not only is water important today, it will be doubly important tomorrow and that we need to be extremely cautious when we talk about large extractions."

Canada has one-fifth of the world's total fresh water natural resources and many companies have seen a golden business opportunity in this. In recent months, plans have been announced to export bulk water by tanker ships from a lake in Newfoundland and from Lake Superior on the border between Ontario and the US.

At the same time, a California company said it intended to use provisions in the 10-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) to seek US$220 million compensation for business opportunities it says it lost when British Columbia banned bulk exports of water.

The initiatives sent environmental activists and government officials into a panic last autumn because Canada had no clear policy on water exports.

There is disagreement as to whether water is covered by Nafta. Canada says exports are excluded but some trade experts dispute this. The fear among Canadian officials was that any export would have set a precedent under international trade law and that Canada would then have had a difficult time banning future bulk water exports.

"Once the tap's open, nobody can turn it off," warned Maude Barlow, chair of the nationalist Council of Canadians.

The measure announced by Mr Axworthy relies on each of the 10 provinces declaring a moratorium on large-scale water sales until a broader, national accord can be implemented.

"Canadians value their fresh-water natural resources and want their governments to take action to protect them," said Environment Minister Christine Stewart.

The Government hopes that by defining it is an environmental rather than a trade issue, it can avoid challenges under trade law.

The World Bank has said "the wars of the next century will be about water" and has endorsed population studies that conclude that water scarcity will be a severe problem for an estimated three billion people in almost 50 countries by 2025.