Thirsty? Get Your Water Somewhere Else
By ANDREW PURVIS

The lack of adequate fresh water for the world's growing population may pose one of the next century's most significant problems. Some private companies had hoped that Canada, with one-fifth of the world's fresh-water supply, would help by selling water overseas. But the government has proposed banning bulk exporting of the precious resource, citing the need to "ensure the security of Canada's water over the long term" and protect ecosystems that could be disrupted by large removals of water. The issue has stirred nationalist passions. Says Bill Blaikie, a member of Parliament from Winnipeg: "Water is as Canadian as hockey, as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as the beaver."

The government was forced to act after private companies submitted two requests last year to export water: one to supply markets in Asia, the other to sell water worldwide. Allowing large-scale exports without a national policy on water, critics argued, would set a dangerous precedent under international trade rules and would make it difficult for Canada to limit any such practices in the future. Exports now must wait for approval from the provinces and for the results of a joint ecological study with the United States on border lakes. Still, Canada does not wish to appear cold-hearted to those parts of the world desperate for the resource. It has promised to share its expertise in water conservation technology with countries in need.

Goodbye to City Life

It goes without saying that most creatures would prefer to live in their natural habitat. Not the monkeys in New Delhi. Protected by the high status that Hindu culture accords to them, monkeys roam free in residential buildings and government offices, biting a dozen people every day--and getting away with it. But officials have had enough: nearly half of the city's 5,000 monkeys will be relocated to a protected forest in neighboring Haryana state later this year. Gone are their heady days of feasting on cookies and bread, of making someone else's home their own.

Green Games Watch

Solar-powered suburbs and ozone-friendly appliances will feature in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, part of official efforts to prevent the site from turning into an environmental wasteland once all the guests are gone. To ensure that the authorities meet their commitment to using clean technologies, Greenpeace and a coalition of groups (www.nccnsw.org.au/member/ggw) are keeping track of the Games' green progress.

Legacy of Disaster

UNHAPPY MILESTONE: March 24 marks the 10th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the environmental disaster that dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil just off Alaska, killing an estimated 300,000 birds, 3,500 sea otters and 200 harbor seals. Since then, nearly 940 million gallons of oil have been spilled worldwide. While notorious, the Exxon-Valdez spill is by no means the largest, ranking 53rd.

The 10 largest oil spills in history

Year	Source	Location	Millions of Gallons
1991	Terminals and tankers	Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Persian Gulf	240
1979	Well	Mexico, Gulf of Mexico	140
1992	Well	Uzbekistan, Fergana Valley	88
1983	Well	Iran, Persian Gulf	80
1983	Tanker	South Africa, Atlantic Ocean	78.5
1978	Tanker	France, Atlantic Ocean	68.7
1988	Tanker	Canada, Atlantic Ocean	43.1
1979	Tanker	Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean Sea	42.7
1980	Well	Libya, southeast of Tripoli	42
1991	Tanker	Italy, Mediterranean Sea	42