An academic seminar on water governance, hosted by McMaster and the Royal Society of Canada, will take place today (Friday, Nov. 4) at the University.

The topic is a timely and important one across Canada, with complex issues facing all levels of government. Some of those issues include bulk water exports, drinking water contamination, pharmaceuticals discarded into rivers and lakes, municipal sewage, and massive irrigation by factory farms. These problems are exacerbated by the fact that water flows freely between a multitude of borders: municipal, provincial, national, and Aboriginal.

New insights on water governance are needed, and the day-long event will be a first effort to help build a new approach. The Right Honorable Herb Gray, Canadian co-chair of the International Joint Commission will be the keynote speaker in the evening. A roundtable discussion, chaired by Mark Sproule-Jones, Victor K. Copps chair in political science, will include academics from both sides of the border, and from a number of disciplines (environment, engineering, politics and law).

The seminar takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Orchid Room in the Commons Building.