I’ve written before about Canada’s most abundant natural resource, and the fact is that as water scarcity in the United States worsens, Canada stands to make some money in trade. And at a time when provinces are left trying to find ways to balance the budget, it stands to reason that they, more than ever, divest of themselves the effort to find that money within their own borders.
Quebec is one such province that could profit by it, according to the Montreal Economic Institute, by reversing the flow of three northern rivers for power generation and water export. By diverting floodwaters from the rivers in the spring, they could boost water levels on the St.Lawrence and let the U.S. and Canadian provinces increase their supply of freshwater:
“The revenue generated by exporting freshwater would be the result of complex negotiations between state, provincial and federal governments,” said the report, compiled by former hydroelectric power engineer Pierre Gingras.
“Whatever the outcome of negotiations, and given the probable increase in the value of water in the coming years, this revenue from the sale of water would contribute significantly to the financial health of the Quebec government and the general prosperity of Quebecers.”
The idea of bulk water exports from Canada has always been controversial, for political, environmental and security reasons.
But Gingras said the scheme could net the province about $7.5 billion a year – assuming that the extra water supplied some 150 million people who paid a “very reasonable” $50 a year for the water.
Of course the plan is a long way off from being realized, with estimates that the project could be completed by 2022. As well, while bottled water can run as high as $1.70 a litre [as mentioned in my headline], a deal that would provide this abundance of freshwater wouldn’t be monetized quite the same way. Canadians pay on average of 8 cents per 100 litres of water we use, so we can’t quite lay claim to being the Saudi Kings of freshwater quite yet.
