University researchers will work with Indigenous partners to co-develop solutions for urgent and growing water quality issues.
Six new three-year research projects across Canada — a $1.63-million investment — were launched by Global Water Futures (GWF), a University of Saskatchewan-led research program.
The projects aim to research and aid in water governance, food security, water security, climate change as well as human and ecosystem health in Indigenous communities.
“We are seeing profound changes to our river basins that affect us all, but no one in Canada is more affected by these changes than those in Indigenous communities,” GWF director John Pomeroy said in a press release.
“Our shared goal is to create an ongoing dialogue and framework that will use both western science and traditional Indigenous knowledge to solve these water issues.”
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According to the federal government, there were 62 long-term drinking water advisories affecting public systems on reserves as of Jan. 7.
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Pomeroy noted the projects were jointly identified between Indigenous community representatives and GWF scientists at a meeting earlier this year.
Each project is led by GWF researchers and leaders from Indigenous communities and organizations.
One project at Cumberland House, Sask., intends to determine whether it’s feasible to restore sediment downstream of a dam and thereby rejuvenate the ecosystem in the Saskatchewan River delta.
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