Introduction
Drinking water is by no means an infinite resource, and while in some countries, people feel like they have it in abundance and use it carelessly, there are places in the world where women and children spend hours each day just to collect it. However, even in developed countries, some communities experience water deficiency. One of the most serious unresolved problems in Canada is supplying First Nations settlements with safe potable water, which contributes to healthcare, socioeconomic and cultural issues faced by these communities.
Main body
The issue of safe water deficiency provided to First Nations communities can be attributable to the fact that these settlements are subjects of numerous economic and social inequalities. For example, according to 2006 statistics, 61% of young adults among First Nations people have not completed high school education, while for the rest of Canadians, the figure was 13% (qtd. in Galway 2). Some studies claim that there is no substantial correlation between higher risks of water contamination and community well-being, except for the weak positive relationship between inadequate safe water supply and higher unemployment rates that can be attributable to geographical isolation (qtd. in Brown 103-104). However, the limited involvement of First Nations people in the labor market is an established fact symbolizing their exclusion. Therefore, it is necessary to understand that the root causes of the water supply problems of First Nations lie in this inequality.
Serious health risks are associated with an insufficient amount of safe drinking water in First Nations settlements. While the government has introduced several regulations and projects aimed at addressing the issue, the measures appear “to be inadequate to deal with the complexity of the problem” (Brown et al. 100). According to National Assessments of Water and Wastewater systems, the number of high-risk water systems in First Nation communities increased by 2010 (qtd. in Brown et al. 100). Some research indicates risks connected to concerning levels of bacteria (total coliforms and E. coli) in the drinking water supplies of some First Nations settlements (Farenhorst et al. 16). Health risks that are associated with water contamination include gastrointestinal infections, skin problems, congenital disabilities, and a higher propensity to cancer (Bradford et al. 12). Addressing the problem of water quality in First Nations settlements is critically important for public health; therefore, the government should work in conjunction with health organizations while taking measures to resolve the issue.
There are also several socioeconomic and cultural problems connected to poor water supply in First Nations communities. They face issues connected to their high dependence on federal governments funding for sustaining and improving their water systems. Moreover, there is a problem in educating certified water operators since training programs are often offered in “distant urban areas with different governing systems”; retaining employees also appears to be an issue in these settlements (Bradford et al. 13).
Bradford et al. also indicates problems connected to cultural barriers – for the majority of First Nations people, water also has a spiritual meaning: they do not want to drink bottled water since they believe that everything packed in plastic dies (13). As the majority of studies suggest, the lack of reliable water resources in First Nations communities is a persistent issue which, at the same time, is both the result and the cause of economic and political inequality experienced by these communities. Searching for solutions should, therefore, be collaborative, which implies involving the Indigenous population (Simms et al. 6). Facilitating further involvement of First Nations people in addressing both the issue of insufficient water supply, in particular, and inequality they face, in general, can prove to be helpful in resolving the problems experienced by these communities.
Conclusion
Access to safe water is a fundamental human right; however, some communities, such as First Nations settlements in Canada, still experience issues connected to water shortage. Solving the problem should be one of the most immediate objectives of the Canadian government. While working on improving water supply and water quality in these regions, authorities should also focus on dealing with economic and political exclusion experienced by First Nations, which appears to underlie the current problems.
References
Bradford, Lori E. A., et al. “Drinking Water Quality in Indigenous Communities in Canada and Health Outcomes: a Scoping Review.” International Journal of Circumpolar Health, vol. 75, no. 1, 2016. Web.
Brown, Brandon, et al. “Why Do Some First Nations Communities Have Safe Water and Others Not? Socioeconomic Determinants of Drinking Water Risk.” Global Journal of Health Science, vol. 8, no. 9, 2016. Web.
Farenhorst, Annemieke, et al. “Bacteria in Drinking Water Sources of a First Nation Reserve in Canada.” Science of the Total Environment, vol. 575, 2017. Web.
Galway, Lindsay P. “Boiling over: A Descriptive Analysis of Drinking Water Advisories in First Nations Communities in Ontario, Canada.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 13, no. 5, 2016. Web.
Simms, Rosie, et al. “Navigating the Tensions in Collaborative Watershed Governance: Water Governance and Indigenous Communities in British Columbia, Canada.” Geoforum, vol. 73, 2016, pp. 6-16. Web.