Water Security in the Canadian North with a focus on Nunavut

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Abstract

Water is an integral element of the ecological sustainability and balance of the world ecosystems, including the Canadian North. This research aims to address the water security issue in Canadian North, specifically Nunavut and how it impacts the Inuit community. Climate change has affected the stability of the natural world; its impacts have altered precipitation cycles, increased exposure to solar radiation resulting in reduction of snow and ice cover. These changes coupled with geographic and economic limitations exacerbate the effects of water crisis on the indigenous populations residing in Nunavut and other parts of Northern Canada. Inadequate water governance, poor infrastructure planning as well as fragmented water sovereignty aggravate the situation and calls for immediate attention. Water security is often perceived through an anthropocentric lens, however, in this paper, a holistic approach has been taken to consider biophysical and sociocultural elements. Two important case studies (in the Canadian and the US Arctic) are analyzed to strengthen the objective of this thesis and the comparative analysis led to an understanding that the water crisis is a complex system. The crisis is envisioned as a system and sub-systems such as energy security and community housing have been recognized as areas that require research, policy attention and inclusive decision making. The recommendations suggested aim at bringing different decision makers together to collaborate with indigenous leaders who can provide direction and use TEK to influence environmental decision making; data management, innovative engineering solutions and a secure communication platform are recommended to address the water security issue.