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Ducks Unlimited Canada Prepares Wetland Report for Walkerton Inquiry 
Ducks Unlimited National Head Office, Oak Hammock Marsh, Manitoba, December 21 – Ducks Unlimited Canada has been recognized as a contributor to the Walkerton Inquiry and is preparing a summary of wetland research for the Inquiry's consideration. The 60-year-old wetland conservation organization would like wetlands' role in the management of water quality and quantity recognized in water policy recommendations that may result from the Walkerton Inquiry.
"The recommendations of the inquiry have potential to profoundly impact water policy in Ontario and provide a point of reference for other provinces addressing their own water quality issues," said Jim Anderson, DUC's program and policy advisor in Ontario. "We are grateful for the opportunity to share valuable information on the role of wetlands in water management and water quality, and to provide input into the policy decision making process."
DUC's state of wetland science report is a compilation and review of published research regarding the links between wetlands and water quality and quantity. The report will also contain public policy recommendations based on Ducks Unlimited Canada's conclusions.
Wetlands Linked with Water Quality
Ducks Unlimited Canada restores and conserves wetland areas for wildlife and people. Shane Gabor, a biologist with Ducks Unlimited Canada, said Canadians know how important wetlands are to wildlife, but they are less likely to understand how wetlands impact their own quality of life.
"Wetlands are nature's water filters. Contaminants and excess nutrients carried into wetlands by flowing water are filtered out into wetland soils. As a result, water leaving wetlands is, in general, cleaner than it was when it arrived in the wetlands," said Gabor.
Wetland Loss Extensive Across Canada
The lack of value associated with wetlands has contributed to their destruction across the country. Canada's wetlands have been extensively paved over, plowed under and filled in. More than half of the coastal marshes in Atlantic Canada have been converted to other uses. Along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, 10,000 acres of wetland habitat has disappeared. Sixty per cent of Ontario's wetlands are gone. The loss approaches 90 per cent in the province's southern populated and agriculture intense areas. Seventy per cent of the wetlands on Canada's Prairies have disappeared in the past 100 years. In British Columbia, the Vancouver region has lost 80 per cent of its wetlands.
Details on Ducks Unlimited's Involvement in the Inquiry
Ducks Unlimited Canada's report will be submitted to the Walkerton Inquiry in early January 2001 for consideration under part two of the inquiry. Part two is devoted to the broader matters of public policy that relate directly or indirectly to the supply of safe drinking water. If the report is accepted, DUC will formally present its findings in early 2001.
Ducks Unlimited Canada is a private, nonprofit organization that conserves wetlands and associated habitats for the benefit of waterfowl, other wildlife and people.
