Written by guest blogger Denise Deby, who writes on local and global social and environmental issues.
The water we use is part of a global water system, so it’s fitting that several upcoming events are focusing on how we manage our rivers locally as well as on how our water use here connects to water accessibility elsewhere in the world. The events are timed to mark World Water Day (March 22) and Canada Water Week (March 19-25, 2012).
World Water Day Film Screening, Thursday March 22
Engineers Without Borders and the Canadian Water Resources Association will present a screening of One Water, a very cool film about humans’ relationship with water, and information on local and global water issues. It’s happening at the Raw Sugar Café, 692 Somerset St. W., 7-9 p.m. For information: http://canadawaterweek.com/event/457
Walk for Water, Thursday March 22
SOPAR (Society for Partnership), a non-profit supporting international development in India, is inviting people to join “Walk for Water: Canada & India Unite for Water” by organizing or participating in a walk. For information: http://canadawaterweek.com/event/490.
Save the Gatineau / Sauvons la Gatineau Awareness Raising Concert, Sunday March 25
This benefit for Save the Gatineau aims to let people know what’s at stake for the Gatineau River and what organizations like the Ottawa Riverkeeper, Fondation Rivières and Friends of the Gatineau are doing to protect it, with music by Gerry Wall and the Eastend. It’s at the Black Sheep Inn, Wakefield, 4 p.m. For information: http://savethegatineau.com/?p=798
Ottawa Riverkeeper’s Great River Project
These are not directly connected to Canada Water Week, but the Ottawa Riverkeeper is holding talks in March and April about its Great River Project, where a team of scientists, historians, naturalists and photographers canoed 900 km along the Ottawa River last summer to document the state of the river. Check the Riverkeeper website for dates.
Canada Water Week is an annual celebration of water organized by the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, World Wildlife Fund Canada and Living Lakes Network Canada. This year’s theme, “Discover Your Water Footprint,” aims to draw attention to the “unseen” water used in the production of goods and services we consume, beyond the water we drink and use for cleaning and bathing. According to Canada Water Week’s water footprint infographic, over 90% of the average 6,400 litres of water each Canadian consumes every day is embedded in our food, clothing and other products.
World Water Day 2012 is focusing on “Water and Food Security.” Because we consume food that uses significant water resources to produce, says the UN, “we cannot pretend that the problem is ‘elsewhere.’” Their suggestions: eat a sustainable diet, consume products that are less water-intensive, and reduce food waste. (More resources and tips are available on their website.)
Green Living Ottawa 
For World Water Day consider taking action to convince your MP and MPP to commit to the Ottawa river action plan – http://ecologyottawa.ca/.
Every year, the City of Ottawa dumps hundreds of millions of litres of untreated sewage directly into the Ottawa River. Now you have an opportunity to help stop this travesty once and for all.
Please click here to send a quick letter to all Ottawa area MPs urging them to ensure that funding for the Ottawa River Action Plan is included in the federal 2012 Budget.
*In 2011, 417-million litres of combined sewage and rainwater into the river (equivalent to 166 Olympic-sized swimming pools). This number is half of what it was 2 years ago due to recent infrastructure upgrades. To complete the Ottawa River Action Plan and prevent any sewage from entering the river, a large storage facility is needed.