The federal government already has consultations underway on a Canadian Water Agency.Ottawa—The Commons environment committee has agreed to conduct a comprehensive study of the role of the federal government in protecting and managing the country's freshwater resources.“Freshwater security is vital for the health of Canadians, for the environment, and for our economy,” said Committee Chair Francis Scarpaleggia. “The protection and management of freshwater is particularly important in the context of climate change. Water governance is complex and multi-jurisdictional.“Even within the federal government itself, decision-making related to freshwater cuts across many departments and agencies,” he said. “This study aims to examine options for streamlining the federal role with respect to freshwater and improving collaboration with other levels of government and non-governmental stakeholders.”The federal government held consultations during January and February on how its proposed Canada Water Agency (CWA) should be set up and what roles it could play in improving freshwater management across Canada.There is no resource more essential to Canadians and the economy than clean, reliable fresh water, said Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson and Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau in announcing the launch of those public consultations.Bibeau said droughts, floods and deteriorating water quality are intensifying, due in large part to climate change. The Canada Water Agency's task will be “to find the best ways to keep our water safe, clean, and well managed.“Farmers need a reliable supply of quality fresh water to produce high-quality food for our country and for export around the world. This agency will be designed to complement and work in collaboration with initiatives already underway at the provincial, territorial, and local levels.”The environment committee study will look at the relationships among federal departments as well as with provincial, territorial and local governments and what issues require research.Groups or individual wishing to submit briefs related to this study can find information on doing that on the committee's website ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/ENVI or by emailing [email protected] is home to a fifth of the world's freshwater resources, and Canadians rank water as the country's most important resource. The Great Lakes region alone supports 51 million jobs or nearly 30 percent of the combined American and Canadian workforces, and one in four Canadians draw their drinking water directly from the Great Lakes.Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.