Canada's enduring myth about its limitless water supplies is gradually being debunked. More and more, the sustainability of water, the most valuable natural resource of all, is correlated with the sustainability of our sectors utilizing natural resources. Water use by industry will rise as the global demand for energy and food rises. We are unable to farmland, mine coal, drill for oil, or hew wood without the ability to draw water.   The prospect of climate change makes this calculation more difficult. Lake, river, and aquifer levels may decrease as temperatures rise. Industries accustomed to having water readily available and frequently free may be required to use less of it or pay more for it.   The image of Canada's water is complicated and sometimes even deceptive. The large portrait appears to be quite clear; it is just one of several. Canada holds around 7% of the world's renewable freshwater resources and 7% of its total geographic area. Canada is the second-largest country in the world, and it has more than 2 million lakes, covering around 8% of its land. Nevertheless, there are only rough estimates available at the national level for lake volume, river and glacier runoff, and groundwater.   The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) is conducting a significant new study program on the sustainability of the water and Canadian natural resource industries as a result of all these factors. A clearer, deeper understanding of the policy issues and decisions required for the long-term sustainability of our water resource and how the forestry, mining, agricultural, and energy sectors of our economy use it will result from investigating the relationship between water and the resource sectors.  

Conclusion

Despite the dependency of each of the natural resource sectors on water, information on the amount and sources of water consumed by each sector is generally unreliable. We presently depend on Statistics Canada's water consumption estimates, which are based on voluntary reporting, given the absence of complete data on the water buried in our exports. These projections show that certain industries rely on self-served water supplies, either surface water or groundwater. There are no reliable methods for sampling and measuring. It is difficult to compare water use across time because of significant changes in data-gathering techniques. For instance, although water use has increased during the past ten years, gross water use has decreased.   Water consumption difficulties will further worsen as demand for our natural resource goods rises and international rivalry for water resources intensifies. Climate change may have lasting consequences on Canada's water resource capacity. Water is essential to the natural resource industries. Canada, for its part, is heavily reliant on the economic worth of natural resource industries. Our interdependence with water extends beyond our faucets and bathtubs and into our economy. Water management must evolve into a practice of conservation, efficiency, and adaptability, where ecosystems are an asset worth protecting and water, is truly valued as an investment for our future in order to succeed and remain competitive, as well as to preserve and protect this most essential resource.