World Water Day 2010
March 22 is World Water Day! World Water Day is a United Nations designation meant to draw attention to global water quality issues.
The World Water Day 2010 theme is Water Quality and the slogan is "Clean Water for a Healthy World". UNEP is the UN agency leading on World Water Day this year.
As you know, water quality is a growing concern throughout the developing world. Drinking water sources are under increasing threat from contamination, with far-reaching consequences for the health of children and for the economic and social development of communities and nations. The chemical contamination of water supplies – both naturally occurring and from pollution – is also a serious problem. Arsenic and fluoride alone threaten the health of hundreds of millions of people. Deteriorating water quality threatens the global gains made in improving access to drinking water and unsafe handling and storage of water compounds the problem.
In response, a number of local and international organizations have collaborated to host an evening event in Vancouver focused on water quality in Canada and in around the world.
Water: Challenges and Opportunities takes place at UBC Robson Square, below Robson Street between Howe and Hornby streets, room C150+C180. Admission is $5 and all are welcome to attend. Doors open at 6 pm with presentations beginning at 6:30 pm. For more information call 604-294-5160.
The opening guest speaker is Canadian author Andrew Nikiforuk (Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent). Nikiforuk will discuss three issues in particular: the impact of the tar sands on water quality, the Enbridge (Gateway) pipeline project, and hydrofracturing – a water-intense process that is used to release shale gas. Nikiforuk will then join a panel with Chief Bob Chamberlin, chair of the Musgamagw-Tsawataineuk Tribal Council, and Patrick Lucas, an environmental scientist and returned CUSO-VSO volunteer. The panel will be moderated by Dr. Karen Bakker, director of the UBC Program on Water Governance and author of Eau Canada: The Future of Canada’s Water.
Presented by Amnesty International, Connecting Environmental Professionals, Council of Canadians, Oxfam Canada, Program on Water Governance (UBC), The Water Team, and Tides Canada. The event is Bullfrog powered, and light refreshments will be served.
Please visit this link for a Water Quality Factsheet.
For other useful tools on World Water Day, please visit the following links:
http://www.worldwat
http://www.unwater.
http://weshare.
