One Grand Forks. One Water.

“When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.”
 Benjamin Franklin

One Grand Forks. One Water.

“We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one.”
 Jacques Cousteau

One Grand Forks. One Water.

“All the water that will ever be is, right now.”
 National Geographic, October 1993

One Grand Forks. One Water.

“A river seems a magic thing. A magic, moving, living part of the
 very earth itself.”
 Laura Gilpin

One Grand Forks. One Water.

“When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last
 that has gone before and the first of what is still to come.”
 Leonardo da Vinci

One Grand Forks. One Water.

“Water is the most critical resource issue of our lifetime and our
 children’s lifetime. The health of our waters is the principal measure
 of how we live on the land.”
 Luna Leopold

One Grand Forks. One Water.

“To waste, to destroy our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead
 of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the
 days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to
 hand down to them amplified and developed.”
 Theodore Roosevelt

One Grand Forks. One Water.

“A river is the report card for its watershed.”
 Alan Levere

One Grand Forks. One Water.

“Anything else you’re interested in is not going to happen if you
 can’t breathe the air and drink the water. Don’t sit this one out.
 Do something. You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely
 critical moment in the history of our planet.”
 Carl Sagan

One Grand Forks. One Water.

“To put your hands in a river is to feel the chords that bind the
 earth together.”
 Barry Lopez

One Grand Forks. One Water.

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every
 man’s greed.”
 Mahatma Gandhi

One Grand Forks. One Water.

“If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.”
 Loran Eisely

One Grand Forks. One Water.

“High quality water is more than the dream of the conservationist,
 more than a political slogan; high quality water, in the right
 quantity at the right place at the right time, is essential to health,
 recreation and economic growth.”
 Edmund S. Muskie

One Grand Forks. One Water.

“Children of a culture born in a water-rich environment, we have
 never really learned how important water is to us. We understand it,
 but we do not respect it.”
 William Ashworth

One Grand Forks. One Water.

“Of all our planet’s activities - geological movements, the
 reproduction and decay of biota, and even the disruptive
 propensities of certain species (elephants and humans come to
 mind) - no force is greater that the hydrologic cycle.”
 Richard Bangs & Christian Kallen

One Grand Forks. One Water.

“Water is the one substance from which the earth can conceal
 nothing; it sucks out its innermost secrets and brings them to
 our very lips.”
 Jean Giraudoux

Grand Forks Water Conservation

The Water Works – Save A Drop, Save A Lot.

Kettle River in Grand Forks

The importance of protecting our water resource cannot be overstated. In economic terms, the measurable contribution of water to our economy is difficult to estimate. In environmental terms, water is the lifeblood of the planet. Without a steady supply of clean, fresh water, all life, including human, would cease to exist.

The perception that Canada is blessed with an abundance of fresh water has led to misuse and abuse of the resource: from household toilets that use 20 litres per flush where 6 litres would do, to industrial plants– and some municipalities– that use water bodies as convenient sewers.

The quantity, quality and economic problems we face as a result of our use of water are complex, but at least one of the causes of these problems is easy to manage – the way we waste water. And, the solution is straight forward – water conservation. Simply stated, water conservation means doing the same with less by using water more efficiently or reducing where appropriate, in order to protect the resource now and for the future. Using water wisely will reduce pollution and health risks, lower water costs, and extend the useful life of existing supply and waste treatment facilities.

And it’s easy. With little change to the way we do things now, or the equipment we use, we can reduce water consumption in our homes, yards and work places by 40% or more. These pages outline the role of water conservation in addressing problems related to water use and water quality. It also shows us what part we can play as residential consumers in finding solutions.

(Adapted from Environment Canada’s “Wise Water Use” website)

“The City of Grand Forks would like to extend a Special Thank You to the Okanagan Basin Water Board for providing content for this Water Conservation Section of our website.”

Okanagan Basin Water Board Website

Urban Systems Report – Universal Water Meters Next Steps – Download

How Water Works

Find out what we’re doing in Grand Forks to make water work.

Learn More

Where does our water come from and where does it go?

Grand Forks Water Information Pages

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