TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF THE CANADA WATER ACT

Abstract

The Canada Water Actbecame law September 30, 1970.The main intention was to facilitate cooperative federal-provincial arrangements for water management, a goal which continues to produce positive, if unspectacular, results.Approximately 70 cost-sharing agreements have been authorized by the Acf and funded by the CWA Fund in the past 25 years.In this paper, trends in the nature and funding of projects are reviewed over the period of record.Some achievements and limitations are noted.Recently, changing priorities and severe budget cuts in Environment Canada will probably mean the elimination of the CWAFund in the near future, but the legis- lation itself is being considered for possible updating and amendment. R6sum6La Loi sur les ressources en eau du Canada est entr6e en vigueur le 30 septembre 1970.Le but principal des redacteurs etait de faciliter les ententes de coop6ration f6d6rales-provinciales pour la gestion de l'eau, un but qui donne toujours des r6sultats positifs, sinon spectaculaires.Au cours des 25 dernieres ann6es, prds de 70 ententes d financement partag6 ont 6t6 approuv6es et financ6es en vertu de la loi.On etudie actuellement les tendances de la nature et du financement des projets pendant cette p6riode et on peut noter certaines r6alisations et certaines limites.Les changements des priorites et les coupures budg6taires importantes d Environment Canada se tra- duiront probablement bientot par l'6limination du financement dans le cadre de la loi.mais on 6tudie la possibilite de mettre d jour et de modifier la loi.