News and Events
Making the Most of the Water We Have is the first book anywhere in the world to comprehensively present and apply the water soft path approach. This publication focuses on various Canadian detailed studies but also takes a global perspective looking at examples and experiences from around the world. It demonstrates that soft path analysis is both analytical and practical, and emphasizes that Soft paths are not only conceptually attractive, but can also be economically and politically feasible.
The WaterSmart Scenario Builder is a water soft path analysis tool that facilitates a systematic approach to determining the potential for water and energy savings through application of water conservation and efficiency measures. A Beta trial version is now available, please contact Carol Maas for access to the WaterSmart Scenario Builder.
Project Objectives
- » Examine emerging national water issues, including a survey of best practices in soft path and demand-side management in Canada and abroad;
- » Develop innovative governance options that embed sustainable water management in all levels of government, including "watershed governance" as an alternative to current centralized, hierarchical and sectoral governance approaches;
- » Advance water law reforms and policy decision-making tools that promote sustainable water management, long-term integrative planning, and institutional change that enables ecologically based water allocations;
- » Create a national network of experts and others interested in the new paradigm of sustainable water management to contribute to and use these models as practical tools for policy and institutional change;
- » Increase public awareness around the importance, and limits, of water in Canada, thereby ensuring that WSP objectives are met as part of a larger cultural change.


