Applying Manitoba's Water Policies - Government of Manitoba

Applying the PoliciesWater SupplyOverviewWater has many important uses: drinking, cooking,cleaning, and various other uses in our homes, businesses,and institutions; cooling, processing, mineralextraction, and other industrial uses; irrigation andagricultural uses such as stock watering; recreationuses; providing fish and wildlife habitat; and variousother non-withdrawal uses.Manitobans obtain their water supplies from anumber of sources. Surface water sources range fromlarge bodies of water such as Lake of the Woods, toreservoirs of varying size, to farm dugouts.Groundwater sources vary from large regional aquifersto small localized aquifers. About 80 percent of allwater used by Manitobans is obtained from surfacesources and 20 percent is obtained from groundwatersources.being given to water conservation as a means of limitingor reducing the costs of supply management.All Manitobans must share the responsibility forwater supply. Success in managing our water supplieswill be greatly enhanced by the participation of aninformed public in planning, developing, and operatingour water supply infrastructures, in ensuring that oursupplies are sustainable, and in conserving water andreducing costs.In some parts of the province water supplies areoften quite variable, due either to the seasonal variabilityof streamflow or to climatic variability. Shortagesare not uncommon, and special water conservation andemergency water supply operations have often beennecessary, particularly during periods of drought. Theprovincial government has been examining ways toaugment water supplies to water-short and droughtsensitiveregions to reduce the effects that water shortageshave on economic development.In some parts of the province, the sustainability ofour water supplies is being threatened by a variety ofhuman activities that affect both water quantity andwater quality, and that affect both groundwater andsurface water. Depletion or degradation of our watersupplies must be prevented, otherwise future uses maybe greatly reduced or restricted. Corrective action isoften very difficult and costly.Manitobans are becoming increasingly concernedabout the high costs of water supply infrastructure.Water supply costs include not only the direct costs ofwater storage, transport, treatment, and distribution,but also the costs of wastewater treatment and disposaland the environmental costs related to both the withdrawalsand return flows. Increasing attention is now41