Man on water: Saving a depleting resource

Farther east in Canada, large populations and expanding industrial activity are reducing the level of the Great Lakes. "Some areas are now at the limits of their development based on current water supply," says Sandford. He adds that in the north, permafrost is disappearing, glaciers are melting and water reserves are being diminished.

Sandford isn't alone in his concerns. "For the first time in Canadian history, we have major river flows that are becoming insufficient to match our water use – this is happening in the Saskatchewan River system that drains the Rocky Mountains," says John Pomeroy, president of the Canadian Geophysical Union and Canada research chair in Water Resources and Climate Change. "Declining snowfall and warmer winters are reducing river flow, and at the same time we want to use more water for crops, industry and homes. This means that we have to manage our water supplies and water use better so that demand does not exceed supply and water shortages do not develop." Hans Schreier, a professor at the Institute for Resources and Environment at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, adds, "All we need are a couple of dry years and we're in real trouble."

Man on a mission
A married father of three teens, Sandford has been widely recognized and praised for his efforts to raise awareness about protecting water resources – at home and around the globe. He has earned a reputation in his high-profile role as Canada's chair for the United Nations Water for Life Partnership. The body addresses global water quality and availability issues. What's more, Sandford represents Canada on the prestigious Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy, designed to spur on global discussions on water management issues. Last year in Spain, forum members and international water advocates focused on how our planet would provide water to the people who will populate the earth this century: a staggering number that currently stands at six billion and is expected to rise to nine billion by 2050.

Mike Demuth, a glaciology research scientist with Natural Resources Canada, says he appreciates Sandford's efforts to link scientists with the general public. "He's trying to shape a movement," says Demuth, a contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change who shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. vice-president Al Gore.

At home this past December, Sandford helped organize a conference of experts on the world's water in Canmore "to pool our resources and improve our ability to predict how much water we will have in the future." He's also collaborating with the Canadian Water Network and the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation along with the University of Toronto to reform national water policy. "It makes your brain hurt when you think about how big a task this is," says Sandford.

Canada's water guru is urging us all to take up the water conservation challenge. He works on a national campaign, Go Blue, which calls on Canadians to cut their water consumption in half. He also developed the popular Every Drop Counts video series, available to Grade 8 students across the country, and launched a national public service campaign on water issues, UN Water for life, with the Global Television Network.

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