Written by Teghan Acres

The average British Columbian uses 296 litres of water a day. High-quality, potable water is supplied for all household water uses, from garden hoses to toilets. Many folks in other parts of the world lacking access to clean water use only 5 litres each day. These numbers illustrate the pressing issue of water insecurity around the world.

In 2010, the United Nations recognized water and sanitation as a human right. The resolution acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realisation of all human rights.The right to water entitles everyone to have access to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use. Despite this international declaration, communities around the world continue to face water insecurity. 2.2 billion people today lack safe drinking water. Nina Nichols is one of our graduate level researchers that is exploring these issues.

Before she began this position with the PWRC two years ago, Nichols studied environmental science and biology at the University of California, Davis. During her time there she had opportunities to collaborate and research on a marine ecology project with the Zostera Experimental Network. This project focused on creating a collaborative of scientists across the globe to better understand climate impacts on eelgrass (Zostera marina) and biodiversity in the intertidal. Nichols also participated in research projects during her time studying abroad at the University of Queensland in Australia. During her program she focused on climate impacts on crab oxygen regulation and feeding patterns around corals. Her experiences conducting fieldwork have given her an appreciation for a variety of landscapes and ecosystems, which she hopes to continue exploring.

Nichols explained how her interest in water led to the work she is conducting now for her Masters in Resource Management at SFU: “I want to work on water issues because they are integral to all living things. Water is necessary for the health of our ecosystems, biodiversity, and human health and wellbeing, it is tied to everything.” Her research now goes beyond the ecology focused projects she has conducted in the past to include the role of power and politics in the environment. Nichols says that she, “finds it interesting to research the overlap of environmental and social issues, as these are necessary to untangle if we want to address issues around equity and environmental justice.”

These themes are present in her current research as she is looking at how human rights policy around water is realized in marginalized communities. Today there are 194 drinking water advisories in British Columbia. According to the First Nations Health Authority, 14 of these are in First Nations communities. Nichols is comparing barriers to the realization of the human right to water in Canadian First Nation communities and Palestinian communities. Her research explores how similarities such as the impacts of jurisdictional fragmentation and settler colonialism impede the ability to implement the Human Right to Water.

In addition to her studies, she is currently working with the First Nations Fisheries Council as a Project Coordinator. As this position and her graduate degree come to a close, she is hoping to continue to learn about new places and ecosystems, and explore the intersection of policy, environment and people.

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We respectfully acknowledge that the PWRC operates on the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.