Centring Water in Impact Assessment: Reconsidering Environmental and Cultural Flows in Development Decision-Making in Canada

A novel framework for integrating environmental and cultural flows into impact assessments could significantly enhance water protection in development projects. This study proposes the 'three Cs'—advisory councils, regional data assessment, and consensus-building—to embed ecosystem and rights-based needs in decision-making processes. While current Canadian practices often focus on habitat and fish, this approach expands to include Indigenous rights and cumulative water withdrawals, drawing from successful cases like the Wolastoq Ecological Limits of Hydrological Alteration and Wood Buffalo National Park assessments. The findings suggest that adopting such frameworks could lead to more comprehensive water protection in development projects.

Bergbusch, N. T., Lo, M., St-Hilaire, A., Gibson, R. B., Jardine, T. D., Leonard, K., & Courtenay, S. C. (2025). Centring Water in Impact Assessment: Reconsidering Environmental and Cultural Flows in Development Decision-Making in Canada. Environmental Management, 75(8), 2010–2030. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-025-02194-2