Freshwater is a precious resource
A British Columbian poll by the Vancouver Foundation and WWF-Canada shows that over 90% of British Columbians want protection of the environment to be a top priority in the province’s new water rules.
The poll, outlined in an article on the WWF website also shows that 2 out of 3 people feel that the current rules are not enough to protect against future sustainability threats.
These polls need to be carried out on a much larger scale. Since 94% of people in B.C. feel that nature, wildlife and animal protection is a top priority, maybe researchers should also ask the rest of Canada how they feel.
Contrary to what some may think, these results obviously show that people actually do care about the environment and how the freshwater is used to support it. Several other countries are using the same idea (considering the needs of nature) while working out their water management laws. If B.C. is able to follow through with these results and create laws to protect freshwater for the environment, the province may have an impact not only across Canada, but on a global scale as well.
Water resources have been taken advantage of for far too long and it’s about time that people realize it. Younger generations are informed of the situation and seem to be more concerned than past generations. A perfect example of why people should care – the Aral Sea. The massive body of water used to be one of the largest inland seas across the world, until the Soviet Central Government decided to increase their rice and cotton production. They decided to take the water, using dams and canals, from the two rivers that leaked into the Aral Sea. The Aral Sea is now 75% smaller, and the surrounding area is paying the price. Salt is in the soil, affecting agriculture and health, and salt levels in the water are rising and the once-thriving fishing industry is over, after all known fish species became extinct from the salt levels.
Hopefully this disaster opened the world’s eyes, and people will begin to care. The great lakes could easily suffer the same fate, as could any body of water. People need to take responsibility and start thinking of the environment. Nobody is saying that all water should remain with nature. The idea is simply to leave enough in the rivers and lakes for the environment to continue prospering.
