There's Wealth In Your Water, Quebec Told

The CBC:

Quebec should tap into the growing thirst for water by laying the groundwork for bulk water exports that could earn the province billions of dollars a year, a conservative think-tank said Wednesday.

"Quebec must act and start looking seriously into the possibility of helping set up markets for water as a preferred means of meeting the imminent necessity of sharing water resources," the Montreal Economic Institute said in a report.

The province would generate $65 billion a year in revenue if it exported 10 per cent of the one trillion cubic metres of available fresh water, said the report prepared by Marcel Boyer, the group's chief economist.

The value of the "renewable fresh water" isn't certain, but the group based the potential value on the 65 cents it costs to desalinate a cubic metre of water.

Charging a 10 per cent royalty on exports would generate $6.5 billion a year for the provincial coffers.

Read more ....