WATER NEWS
watermatters has moved!
May 22nd, 2020watermatters is now located at 3622 W. 4th Ave in Vancouver, BC.
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The Future of Water
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Summer Water Challenge
Tuesday, July 30th, 2019If you are a freshwater lover and enthusiast here is a fun new challenge being launched this summer!
The #SummerWaterChallenge is a social media contest to encourage Canadians to get out to the water and connect. We know that the more time we spend with and near water, the more likely we will be to appreciate it and compelled to protect it.The Challenge is easy: sign up here, then make sure you get out to a water body—urban, wild or rural—at least once a week between the August and September long weekends. Take a photo of you (and anyone else!) in, on or near water and upload to social media with the hashtag #SummerWaterChallenge.
You will be entered into a weekly draw for LUSH prizes just for signing up, and every time you post. If you post every week between August 3rd and Sept 2nd, you’ll be entered in a draw for our Grand Prize: outdoor gear from Mustang Survival and Mountain Equipment Co-Op!
Besides winning prizes, it’s a great excuse to get out to the water this summer.
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Stop Commercial Water Bottling in BC
Tuesday, July 16th, 2019After consecutive years of drought in BC, it’s increasingly clear that
we need to manage our water resources with caution and care.
Prioritizing the use of water for people and nature—as opposed to
for profit—is an important piece of this puzzle.In September, municipalities, regional districts and First Nations
throughout British Columbia will vote on an important resolution:
asking the province to stop issuing water licenses to commercial
water bottling operations in the province.The vote will happen at the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM)
convention, held between Sept. 23-27 in Vancouver…In April, the resolution was passed by all 53 members of the
Association of Vancouver Island Coastal Communities. Now it’s up
to the rest of BC.Click here to stand behind this initiative.
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Microplastics from Laundry Water End Up in Waterways and the Ocean
Thursday, December 20th, 2018“Every time clothing is washed, tiny strands of fabric break off and go down the drain. Research has shown that microplastics in the ocean are being mistaken for food by zooplankton and fish, raising concerns about impacts to their health,” says Peter Ross, vice-president of research at Ocean Wise who led a joint study conducted by Metro Vancouver and Ocean Wise.
The 2018 study raises questions about waste water from household laundry as a significant source of microplastic particles in water ways and the ocean.
The majority of microparticles that end up in a Metro Vancouver wastewater treatment plant are primarily from fibres such as polyester and rayon (modified cellulose) which indicates that they are coming from our laundry water.
Although Metro Vancouver treatment plants (which serves 1.3 million people) filter and remove up to 99% of 1.8 trillion plastic particles that enter our wastewater treatment system each year, about 30 billion of those particles are still released into the ocean.
Metro Vancouver residents and all Canadians are encouraged to help reduce microplastic pollution. Here are some suggestions:
- Do laundry less frequently when possible
- Use front-loading laundry machines (which cause clothes to shed four times fewer fibres than top-loading washing machines)
- Use cold water
- Use less soap
- Install a lint trap or lint filter on your washing machine’s discharge hose
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* Retention of Microplastics in a Major Secondary Wastewater Treatment Plant in Vancouver, Canada, published in 2018 in Marine Pollution Bulletin, an international scientific journal.
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BC Rivers Day – Sunday, September 23
Saturday, September 22nd, 2018BC Rivers Day (Sunday, Sept 23) is Canada’s largest event dedicated to raising public appreciation of the irreplaceable importance of our rivers and the many benefits we derive from them, including increasingly scarce clean water and precious spawning grounds for wild salmon. BC Rivers Day also brings public awareness to the increasing threats to our spectacular waterways, the lifeblood of our land.
This annual event (initiated in 1980) has become an internationally recognized occasion. Hundreds of events will take place across the province this weekend to mark this celebration, including river festivals, cleanups, and river paddling in communities throughout the province.
Test your RIVER IQ here.
Look for an event near you.
Thanks to the Fresh Water Alliance.
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World Water Day – March 22, 2018: The Answer is in Nature
Tuesday, March 6th, 2018March 22 is World Water Day. Each year this global event focuses on a specific aspect of our relationship with water.
The theme for World Water Day 2018 is :
Nature for Water– exploring nature-based solutions to the water challenges we face in the 21st century.
When we neglect our ecosystems, we make it harder to provide everyone with the water we need to survive and thrive.
Nature-based solutions have the potential to solve many of our water challenges. We must increase our application of ‘green’ infrastructure and harmonize it with ‘grey’ infrastructure wherever possible. Planting new forests, reconnecting rivers to floodplains, and restoring wetlands will rebalance the water cycle and improve human health and livelihoods.
Environmental damage, together with climate change, is driving the water-related crises we see around the world. Floods, drought and water pollution are all made worse by degraded vegetation, soil, rivers and lakes.
Damaged ecosystems affect the quantity and quality of water available for human consumption. Today, 2.1 billion people live without safe drinking water at home; affecting their health, education and livelihoods.
Sustainable Development Goal 6 commits the world to ensuring that everyone has access to safe water by 2030, and includes targets on protecting the natural environment and reducing pollution.
How can we reduce floods, droughts and water pollution?
By using the solutions we already find in nature.
See fact sheet.
Canada Water Week 2018
(March 20 – 27)
Healthy rivers, living lakes.Canada Water Week is a celebration of water from coast-to-coast-to-coast, held annually in the third week of March to coincide with World Water Day on March 22. Find local events here.
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