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Climate Change, Adaptive Capacity, and Governance for Drinking Water in Canada

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Adaptive Capacity and Environmental Governance

Part of the book series: Springer Series on Environmental Management ((SSEM))

Abstract

Water managers have relied on the tendency of natural systems to fluctuate within a predictable range. This assumption is no longer valid in the context of climate change and thus past response capabilities offer little confidence in future adaptive capacity. Dealing with greater uncertainty and complexity relating to drinking water will therefore require a broad and integrative perspective. This perspective is developed by synthesizing literature pertaining to climate change adaptation, complex systems and water governance. We use this perspective to explore the context of drinking water supply in two very different settings in Canada: urban water supply and drinking water quality in Aboriginal communities. Insights reveal notable challenges relating to heterogeneity of drinking water systems, complexity of the social and institutional milieu in which they function, and their embeddedness in larger circumstances. Appropriate strategies for addressing these challenges include acknowledging the need to go beyond technical solutions and mainstreaming climate change concerns into drinking water governance.

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Acknowledgements

Rob de Loë would like to acknowledge support provided by the Canadian Water Network, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation and the University of Waterloo.

Ryan Plummer gratefully acknowledges support for his research program from a Brock University Chancellor’s Chair for Research Excellence, the Canadian Water Network and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environment and Resource Studies, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Rob de Loë

  2. Department of Tourism and Environment, Brock University, 500 Glenridge Avenue, L2S 3A1, St. Catharines, ON, Canada

    Ryan Plummer

  3. Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SE-106 91, Sweden

    Ryan Plummer

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  1. Rob de Loë
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  2. Ryan Plummer
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Correspondence to Rob de Loë .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Geography &, Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, N2L 3C5, Canada

    Derek Armitage

  2. Dept. Tourism & Environment, Brock University, Glenridge Ave. 500, St. Catharines, L2S 3A1, Canada

    Ryan Plummer

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de Loë, R., Plummer, R. (2010). Climate Change, Adaptive Capacity, and Governance for Drinking Water in Canada. In: Armitage, D., Plummer, R. (eds) Adaptive Capacity and Environmental Governance. Springer Series on Environmental Management. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12194-4_8

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