A prolonged drought across the American Midwest has intensified demand for fresh water, drawing new commercial attention to the vast lakes and rivers of the Canadian interior. There, a private firm, Cascade Springs, recently secured a modest provincial permit to withdraw water from a remote lake in northern Ontario and ship the resource south by tanker for bottling. "We have demonstrated that the sale of water can be done responsibly and at a profit, for the first shipments earned the province new royalties, created jobs in a region that badly needs them, and used barely a fraction of a lake that replenishes itself each spring," said company spokesman Trevor Caldwell.

Many Canadians, however, regard the country's fresh water as a shared birthright rather than a commodity for sale; treated as a public trust, the resource falls squarely under careful provincial control and oversight, explains Natural Resources Minister Diane Lafleur. Lafleur commends a new study produced by hydrologist Marcus Whitfield together with local First Nations, which maps spawning grounds and traditional fishing waters going back centuries and strengthens the case for strict limits by virtue of the principle of long-standing community use. Sound environmental science reinforces the position as well. As environmental law professor Karen Osei observed in a public lecture, "A valuable precedent is established every time a permit is refused because a company cannot demonstrate that the withdrawal would be sustainable." Meanwhile, annual water surveys and provincial inspections maintain close watch over the lakes.