Albuquerque, NM - Friday May 11, 2001 - The commercial export of water from Canada has generated national passions in Canada since a proposal several years ago to remove water from the Great Lakes was first floated.

On Monday, April 30, 2001, the Toronto Globe and Mail ran a front-page article headlined: "Canada's Water For Sale On The Internet." The article was published on the heels of the WTO meeting in Ottawa and discussed the listings of Canadian water for export on the Internet site www.waterbank.com The Government of Canada and others have taken the position that Canadian water cannot be exported in bulk.

As a country blessed with abundant water resources, Canada can not only benefit from this renewable resource but also help meet the fresh water demands of populations that lack it. Although bulk water transport is not economically feasible to all global locations, in some areas it is feasible. Water export to water-short areas can help to reduce international tension over transboundary use of water - an ongoing problem between many countries including: Turkey and Syria, Israel and Jordan, and Israel and Palestine.

WaterBank^®.Com is an Internet-based global water listing and trading clearinghouse. The Toronto Globe and Mail article provoked a flood of inquiries at WaterBank^®.Com from the Canadian media, including Canada AM, the CBC and the Edmonton, Alberta newspaper.  WaterBank^®.Com is an Internet-based global water listing and trading clearinghouse.

In addition to sources of bulk water worldwide listed on WaterBank^®.Com, listings of water from Crown Grant land, granted prior to 1892 in Alberta and Saskatchewan and 1898 in British Columbia, offers the possibility of exporting bulk water from British Columbia without the necessity of a government permit.  Even if a permit is required, NAFTA and GATT may trump Canadian Legislation.

WaterBank^® is actively seeking governments willing to import bulk water for municipal and power generation uses as well as aquifer storage and retrieval programs, WaterBank^® also seeks to form consortia of municipalities with a need to import water and to offer them an ownership interest in the source.

The debate on the export of water from Canada continued on CJME Talk Radio from Regina, Saskatchewan on Monday, May 14, 2000 when Dr. Turner was interviewed by talk show host John Gormley a former Member of Parliment.

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