The Challenge of Reconciling Water and Agricultural Policies —The Role of Public Hearings - Water and Agriculture: Sustainability, Markets and Policies - page 376

In Canada, jurisdiction over agriculture and water is shared between the federal and
the provincial governments, but agricultural production and freshwater management and
protection are primarily provincial responsibilities. The Québec government is therefore a
very active player in both these fields. In recent years, it has made some significant
advances in protecting water from agricultural pollution, notably as a result of extensive
consultations on related issues. These processes are presented in the following sections
as well as their outcomes.
The water management hearings
A consultation process on freshwater …
Québec's renewable freshwater resources account for 3% of the world's total
reserves. To preserve the abundance and quality of this resource, the Québec government
launched an initiative in the late nineties to develop a water management policy based on
principles of sustainable development. One of the key steps in this process was an
extensive series of public hearings conducted in 1999-2000 by the Commission sur la
gestion de l'eau au Québec (Québec water management commission), which was set up
by the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE, or office for public
hearings on the environment). A brief description of BAPE is presented in Box 1. All of
Québec's administrative regions were visited twice by the Commission, first to provide
the public with information on various water-related issues and, second, to receive
proposals from individuals and groups interested in water management and the protection
of both public health and aquatic ecosystems. During the hearings, the Commission held a
total of 143 public sessions, received 379 briefs and heard over a thousand citizens and
stakeholders.
This process led to a comprehensive report by the Commission entitled L'eau,
ressource à protéger, à partager et à mettre en valeur (Water, a resource to protect, share
and develop) (BAPE, 2000). The report addressed strategic issues related to freshwater
management (massive exports of freshwater, commercial use of groundwater and the
privatising of water services); presented a description of regional concerns and priorities
regarding freshwater; and emphasised the importance of involving native people in
developing Québec water policy. It also identified the various issues and objectives
related to water and aquatic ecosystem management, as well as possible actions and
measures that could be included in a water policy. As a general recommendation, the
commission stressed the importance of adopting an integrated water management
approach at the watershed level, notably for the St Lawrence River and its tributaries.
… which identifies the need for better control of agricultural pollution
One of the major concerns identified at the hearings was the control of agricultural
pollution. The Commission concluded that most of Québec's efforts in this area to date
have focused on manure storage facilities, a form of point source pollution, while not
enough has been done to target non-point source pollution. The report indicates that “non-
point source pollution may even pose a threat to what has been achieved through
municipal and industrial clean-up efforts” (BAPE, 2000; p. 61, translation). Therefore,
the Commission has advised the provincial government to completely review its strategy
for agricultural clean-up, acknowledging that previous educational and regulatory
measures alone were not sufficient.