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World Water Day... by the numbers
March 22, 2006
The
international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew
out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.
The theme of the UN's World Day for Water 2006 is Water and Culture.
(Source: World Water Day, www.unesco.org/water/wwd2006/index.shtml)
Eighty percent of the human body is made up of water, and two thirds of the planet's surface is covered by water.
Here are some interesting facts on water in Canada, and on the use of this precious resource by Canadians..
From Sea to Sea to Sea
244,000 kilometres - The length of Canada's seemingly endless maritime boundary, since Canada is surrounded on three sides by oceans. That's enough to circle the earth six times.
15% - The percentage of all the coastline in the world that is Canadian. Our extensive seawater wetlands include the coastal areas of Hudson Bay and James Bay, the marshes at Kamouraska in Quebec and Tintamarre in New Brunswick, and the FraserRiver estuary in British Columbia.
12% - The percentage of Canada's surface covered by water-in the form of lakes, rivers and streams.
1,174,452 square kilometres - The area that is covered by lakes and rivers. Among Canada's many freshwater wetlands are the marshes in the Great LakesBasin and along the shores of the St. Lawrence River, the Peace-Athabaska delta in northern Alberta, the Saskatchewan River and Red River deltas in Manitoba, the peatlands of Newfoundland and the FraserRiver delta, and large areas of muskeg in northern Canada.
750,000 square kilometres - The area of land across southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba that comprises the Prairie "pothole" region, where millions of depressions fill with water from melting snow and rain in the spring. Some form lakes while others dry up in a few weeks. They provide homes, breeding or nesting areas for innumerable fish, birds and other animals.
Sources: Human Activity and the Environment, 2005 and Canada Year Book, 1999 and 2001.
Water's economic contribution
0.2% - The percentage of total GDP in 2004 that was contributed by fishing industries. That amounts to $1.9 billion.
56,000 - The number of persons employed in the fishing industries in 2004. That was 0.35% of total employment in Canada.
$4.9 billion - The value of exports of fish and fish products in 2004.
$1.8 billion - The value of imports of fish and fish products in 2004.
156,000 tonnes - The total weight of aquaculture production in 2003.
Sources: Human Activity and the Environment, 2005.
The forecast calls for precipitation
2,500 to 3,500 millimetres - The average amount of precipitation received annually on Canada's west coast.
1,000 to 1,250 millimetres - The average amount of precipitation received annually on Canada's east coast.
250 to 500 millimetres - The average amount of precipitation that falls on the Prairies each year.
159 -The annual average number of wet days in Ottawa.
Source: Canada Year Book, 2001.
Enough is enough!
180 metres - The normal width of the Red River in Manitoba.
30 kilometres - The approximate width of the Red River when it flooded in 1997, forcing more than 28,000 people from their homes.
1,600 - The number of members of Canada's armed forces called in to help clean up eastern Ontario, south-western Quebec and parts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in the early days of 1998, after an unusually prolonged ice storm left more than 4 million people in the dark.
Source: Canada Year Book, 1999.
Drought
6.6% - The decline in cattle inventories from July 1, 2001 to July 1, 2002. Led by a 16% plunge in drought-affected Alberta, cattle inventories on Canadian feeding operations tumbled as the dry conditions combined with lower cattle prices and rising feed costs.
Source: The Daily, August 23, 2002, "Livestock estimates".
Water to spare
20% - The proportion of water to which Canadians have access, as a percentage of the world'sfresh water supply.
7% - The proportion of the world's renewable water flow that benefits Canadians.
1,500 cubic metres - The amount of water per capita used annually in Canada. Among OECD countries, only the United States uses more (1,870 cubic metres per capita).
65.7 million cubic metres - The amount of fresh water used in Canada annually by the late 1990s. Of that, 40.1 million cubic metres was discharged once it had been used, and another 20.8 million cubic metres was recirculated. The rest was consumed by humans or livestock, was incorporated into products, evaporated, or was otherwise removed from the local hydrologic environment.
Source: Human Activity and the Environment, 2005.
Who's using all that water?
94% - The percentage of water withdrawals-including recirculated water-that is used by industry. Municipalities use the other 6% to serve households, schools and hospitals. The electric power and utilities industry drew 63% of the total intake to produce electricity and cool power plants, recirculating 40% of its supply. Manufacturers drew 14%, but that was down from levels in the 1980s due to greater efficiency and recirculation practices in the industrial sector.
9% - The percentage of total freshwater withdrawals consumed by Agriculture, the largest consumer of fresh water. Three-quarters of this water was not returned to its source.
3.8 billion cubic metres - The amount of water used for agricultural irrigation. Farmers in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan used 92% of that amount.
Source: Human Activity and the Environment, 2005.
70% - The percentage of Canada's population that resides in very highly urban and highly urban watersheds. In Ontario, over 6 million individuals occupy just one watershed.
45%- The population increase from 1981 to 2001 in very highly urban watersheds. This represents an increase of over 3 million individuals. Meanwhile, highly rural watersheds saw an increase of only 4%, representing an increase of a little over 9,000 individuals.
Source: The Daily, Thursday, January 5, 2006, "Study: The population pattern in Canada's watersheds".
Quench your thirst
344.79 litres - The per capita volume of non-alcoholic beverages (including tea, coffee, bottled water, soft drinks and juice) consumed in Canada in 2001.
29.66 litres - The per capita volume of bottled water consumed in Canada in 2001.
Source: The Daily, Tuesday, October 18, 2005, "Food Consumption".
Wastewater
40% - The percentage of Canadians living in municipalities (with a population greater than 1,000) where wastewater received the best available treatment (tertiary treatment) in the late 1990s.
56% - Percentage of Canadians who had some sort of wastewater treatment.
3% - The percentage of Canadians who were connected to sewer systems but had no wastewater treatment by the late 1990s.
Source: Human Activity and the Environment, 2005.
Transportation
38.9 million - The number of passengers transported by ferry in 2003.
374.7 million tonnes - The total weight of freight transported by water in 2003.
Source: Human Activity and the Environment, 2005.
Water power
59% - Percentage of electric power generated in 2004 using Hydro generation. Hydroelectric generation is the largest source of electric power.
4.5% - Percentage increase in electricity production from primary sources (hydro, nuclear, wind and tidal) in 2004 as a result of higher water levels combined with increases in nuclear generation.
3.2% - The national decline in electricity production in 2003. This decline was a result of low water levels and the power blackout in Ontario.
Source: The Daily, Wednesday, October 12, 2005, "Energy supply and demand".
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