World Water Day: Coping with Scarcity
McGill’s Brace Centre showcases global problems and solutions
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently reported that, worldwide, 1.1 billion people do not have access to adequate clean water to meet their basic daily needs and 2.6 billion do not have proper sanitation. McGill University researchers are seeking solutions to the myriad causes of water shortages all over the planet. On World Water Day, the members of the Brace Centre for Water Resources Management, located on the Macdonald Campus, will present their latest results on water management.
Brace Research Day is part of the activities for the World Water Day, celebrated each year on March 22. Conferences will be presented by graduate students and Brace members on topics ranging from global warming, constructed wetlands and phosphorous in Missisquoi Bay to the effects of surface runoff on coral reefs in Barbados. World Water Day is one of the many initiatives that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro.
The keynote speech on Brace Research Day will focus on the need for a national policy on water resource management. Dr. Gaétan Faubert, Professor at the Institute of Parasitology of McGill, will address “For Living Water” (Pour que l’eau vive). “The population needs to realize how water is produced, used, and how it is disposed of. Health scientists, social scientists, engineers, and even specialists in forest management also have to be involved in the process,” said the expert in immunology and waterborne disease.
The Brace Centre for Water Resources Management draws together agricultural, environmental and engineering experts to ensure water resources are managed in a manner that is both sustainable and that supports economic and social development, in Canada and internationally. It brings together experts from several McGill faculties to study problems in collaboration with local and international organizations.
On the Web:
Brace Centre