A new report, asking the federal government to invest $4.5 billion in Canadian water and wastewater infrastructure, water efficiency programming, and green infrastructure, was submitted to the federal government in anticipation of the January 27 budget. The report, Clean Water, Green Jobs: A Stimulus Package for Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investments, highlights the economic benefits of investing in water and wastewater infrastructure. It was released by the Forum for Leadership on Water (FLOW), along with the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA), the University of Victoria's POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, and the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE).

January's federal budget outlined some specific funding for water infrastructure including water treatment in the Yukon, water and sewer system upgrades in Quebec, and water infrastructure on First Nations reserves. Additionally, there is a further $4 billion committed to an Infrastructure Stimulus Package. The types of projects to be funded under this program are yet to be determined, but the authors of the report hope that the provincial, territorial and municipal governments will view it as an opportunity to invest in sustainable water and wastewater infrastructure. The report outlines numerous economic benefits that would result from such investments.

Notably, addressing Canada's $31 billion water infrastructure deficit would support construction work for thousands of Canadians. The report also demonstrates how wise investments in green infrastructure and water efficiency can avoid the need to build unnecessary and unsustainable new pipelines, pumps, and treatment plants in the future, thereby saving money and avoiding further infrastructure debt.

The report is timely as there is currently a risk that in the rush to get shovels in the ground, unwise investments will leave behind undesirable legacies in the form of unnecessary infrastructure that damages the environment and saddles Canadians with new debt. The report makes the argument that spending not only needs to be deployed quickly; it also needs to benefit the long-term interests of Canadians to qualify as wise investment of taxpayer money.

Some Canadian municipalities are already recognizing the far-reaching benefits of some of the approaches mentioned in the report. For example, Cochrane, Alberta, reduced water consumption by 15% and deferred a multi-million dollar pipeline by giving away toilet dams, low-flow showerheads, and faucet aerators. The Region of Peel in Ontario plans to defer $112 million in new water supply infrastructure through a 12 year water efficiency plan costing a mere $33 million. Further, a recent study shows that by increasing water efficiency by 20% the Province of Ontario could save enough electricity to power 95% of all homes in Toronto each year.

Jobs in sustainable water infrastructure support a broad range of local service sectors such as plumbing, landscaping, engineering, building, and design. In their advice to President Obama, the AWE showed how investments in water efficiency can be deployed much faster than traditional infrastructure and yield 15,000 to 22,000 new jobs for each $1.2 billion spent.

Read the Clean Water Green Jobs: A Stimulus Package for Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investments for more detail.

Read the Canwest media story, by reporter, Mike De Souza