Water Sustainability Project

The Water Sustainability Project at POLIS examines urban and emerging water issues in Canada. It began as the Urban Water Demand Management Project in January 2003. Led by Oliver M Brandes, the project’s initial research focused on examining the structure and dynamics of urban water use with the aim of developing mechanisms to help reorient Canadian water management from supply to demand-side approaches. In 2005, the initiative was renamed the Water Sustainability Project to reflect a shift in focus to issues of governance, including “watershed governance,” demand management and the "soft path" for water as part of the broader goal of sustainable water management. Under the rubric of “watershed governance,” the WSP team works with key members of our growing network – provincially and federally – to promote water conservation as the primary tool for watershed management and urban water infrastructure development.

See the Water Sustainability Project web site for more information and links to all of the publications. 

Related Resources and Links

• Thinking Beyond Pipes and Pumps: Top 10 Ways Communities Can Save Water and Money (October 2006) - La version française
• The Soft Path for Water in a Nutshell (May 2006)
• At a Watershed: Ecological Governance and Sustainable Water Management in Canada (May 2005)
• "What we govern and what governs us: Developing sustainability in Canadian water management," co-written by Oliver M. Brandes and Tony Maas. Working paper first presented at the CWRA conference in Toronto, June 2006.
• “Moving Water Conservation to Centre Stage” by Oliver M Brandes, David Brooks and Michael M’Gonigle in Eau Canada: The Future of Canada’s Water, Vancouver: UBC Press, 2006
• “Soft path” research and promotion in conjunction with the soft path team led by David Brooks at Friends of the Earth Canada.
   

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