WATER CANADA MAGAZINE: “Planet Reconciliation” (article published in the March-April 2017 issue)
Note to Reader:
The March-April 2017 issue of Water Canada highlights the nature of problems in First Nations communities and explores a variety of solutions that have proven successful in Indigenous and remote communities across Canada. The March-April issue also includes an article co-authored by Kim Stephens, Michael Blackstock and Bob Sandford.
The article introduces Blue Ecology as a way to provide a holistic cultural context to enhance Western science’s knowledge of the water cycle for the benefit of hydrologists and water managers. The catalyst for the trio to collaborate and write the article was the FLOWnGROW workshop organized by the Partnership for Water Sustainability and held in Kelowna on November 29, 2016.
The enthusiastic response of the Kelowna audience to Michael Blackstock’s message led directly to the Vancouver Sun publishing an op-ed in January 2017. In turn, the op-ed caught the attention of Water Canada magazine and prompted an invitation from editor Katherine Balpataky to submit the article titled Planet Reconciliation. The title was her suggestion.
Blue Ecology interweaves best threads of Indigenous and Western Science
“Warming of the planet’s atmosphere is causing water to move more quickly and disruptively through the global water cycle. Flood, drought, fire, wind and cold – extreme events are becoming the norm,” stated the co-authors in their opening paragraph.
“Instabilities in the water cycle are increasingly apparent. Impacts are magnified by human interventions. We have arrived at a fork in the road.”
“The situation calls for a whole-systems approach to managing the water balance distribution. The risks are too high, and the margins for error too small, to view water and watersheds only through narrow technical lenses. Adapting to changes in the water cycle and restoring the water balance starts with re-visiting our relationship with nature.”
To Learn More:
Download Planet Reconciliation to read the complete article co-authored by Kim Stephens, Michael Blackstock and Bob Sandford.
Download Water Protectors – Roles and Rights of Indigenous Canadians to read the complete set of articles in the March-April 2017 issue of Water Canada magazine.
Blue Ecology water cycle and principles, designed by Michael D. Blackstock as a companion to the conventional science-based Water Cycle.
