The Global Water Intelligencer reports on the Global Water Leadership Summit earlier this week. The writer says, “People are beginning to say that there is so much (shale) gas around, that there may be no immediate need to pursue renewable energy so hard. …(How will this) affect the water industry? Most obviously it would mean that the frac water management market is going to be a big global business. Shale gas reserves are distributed all around the world, and the logistics of getting the frac water on site, and disposing of it afterwards, is one of the main challenges the industry faces. At the moment in the US frac water management is primarily a trucking business, but pipelines and sophisticated treatment may become the norm.”
Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow wrote in Blue Covenant, “It is to the distinct advantage of the private water industry that the world’s freshwater supplies are being polluted and destroyed. With governments, industries and universities investing so heavily in the burgeoning water cleanup industry, there is less and less incentive at every level to emphasize source protection and conservation.”
The water summit is tied to the McGuinty government’s Water Opportunities and Water Conservation Act, which was passed in November 2010. The Act is said to “encourage the creation and export of innovative clean water technology, promote water conservation, attract economic development and create jobs (and) pave the way for the growth of Ontario’s water technology sector in the rapidly expanding global market.” The provincial budget this past March stated, “The water strategy encourages innovation and commercialization in the water sector. For example: the Innovation Demonstration Fund Water Round, which focuses on the commercialization and demonstration of water technologies and assists water technology companies with the potential to be globally competitive in demonstrating their innovative technologies in Ontario…”
The Global water Intelligencer report is at http://www.globalwaterintel.com/insight/what-does-100-crude-and-4-gas-mean-water.html. Our blog about the Global Water Leadership Summit in Toronto is at http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=7916.
