Upon Indigenous Services Canada’s recommendation, Mishkeegogamang First Nation in Ontario lifted a long-term drinking water advisory on December 19.
On December 20, a second drinking advisory that had been in effect since July 28, 2017 was also lifted.
We are determined to work with partners to ensure that all First Nations communities enjoy accessible, clean drinking water."
The Honourable Jane Philpott Minister of Indigenous Services Quick Facts As part of its plan to improve water and wastewater infrastructure at Mishkeegogamang First Nation, the Government of Canada invested $388,000 to support repairs to treatment processes including a replacement of nano-filters, as well as other work on electrical and mechanical systems.
Between November 2015 and December 2017, 31 long-term DWAs were lifted on public water systems financially supported by Indigenous Services Canada through the work done in partnership with First Nation communities and partners.
Twenty-two drinking water advisories were added during that same time.
Indigenous Services Canada is working to address both at-risk and long-term drinking water advisories affecting public systems financially supported by the Department.
There are currently 68 long-term drinking water advisories affecting public systems that receive financial support from Indigenous Services Canada.
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SOURCE Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada For further information: Andrew MacKendrick, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Jane Philpott, 819-956-5372; Media Relations, Department of Indigenous Services Canada, 819-953-1160

(With fresh inputs, including Goa CM’s reax) Bengaluru, Dec 21 (PTI) Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today said his government is willing to consider an amicable settlement with Karnataka on sharing inter-state Mahadayi river water to meet the drinking needs of drought prone areas in northern parts of the state.
Yesterday’s meeting mediated by Shah and developments that have followed to resolve the dispute comes at a time when Karnataka is gearing for assembly polls early next year.
Yeddyurappa’s move is seen as an attempt to protect BJP’s interest during the assembly polls.
The Congress and JDS have been seeking to corner BJP, accusing its government in Goa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not being sympathetic to the state’s drinking water needs.
Karnataka is seeking release of 7.56 tmcft water by Goa from the river for the Kalasa-Banduri Nala project, being undertaken to improve drinking water supply to the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad and districts of Belagavi and Gadag in the state’s northern region.
Parrikar said his government understands that access to drinking water is a basic human need.
Parrikar said the discussion shall be without prejudice to Goa’s rights and contentions before the tribunal, none of which are even touched by the letter.
Earlier, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dubbed the BJP’s efforts to resolve the Mahadayi river issue as a "political gimmick" ahead of assembly elections in the state.
Siddaramaiah said he welcomed any attempt to resolve the issue and was ready to participate if the prime minister calls a meeting of chief ministers of all three riparian states — Maharashtra being the other — to resolve the issue.
The Karnataka government had earlier petitioned the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal which in its July 27 last year interim order rejected the state’s plea.

needs:CM Panaji, Dec 21 Following a meeting with Karnataka BJP leaders, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today said that Goa was ready to give "reasonable and justified" amount of the Mahadayi river water to the neighbouring state for its drinking needs.
Karnataka BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa and other leaders met Parrikar in the presence of party president Amit Shah in Delhi over the Mahadayi river water sharing issue yesterday.
"However, the same needs to be discussed bilaterally as suggested by the Honourable Tribunal (Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal)," Parrikar said in the letter, copies of which were distributed at his press conference here.
Goa and Karnataka are locked in a two-decade-old dispute over the river as Karnataka is planning to build a dam on it.
The river originates in Karnataka before flowing into Goa where it is called Mandovi.
Yeddyurappa, the former Karnataka chief minister, had also written a letter to Parrikar yesterday over utilisation of 7.56 TMC water from the Mahadayi for drinking water needs of drought-prone north Karnataka.
"The government of Goa understands that access to the drinking water is a basic human need….On humanitarian ground, the Government of Goa is willing to consider the request to work out an amicable settlement strictly restricted to drinking water only to the drought-prone areas," it said.
Talking to reporters, Parrikar said "how much water Karnataka would receive would be worked out through the talks".
Earlier in the day, Vinod Palyecar, Goa water resources minister, who belongs to the Goa Forward Party, a BJP ally, said the stand of the coastal state remained unchanged.
We are committed to protect our mother #Mhadei & protect each drop of water," Palyecar tweeted.

But not ready to be content with this, the State government is constructing a 10 TMC capacity reservoir at Keshavpuram on the city fringes to meet the drinking water needs of the city in future.
Planned at a cost of over Rs 4,300 crore, it will take about three years for the project to be completed.
The project is making steady progress, with the HMWSSB already issuing tender notifications for construction of the reservoir.
Raw water drawal arrangements from Keshavpuram Reservoir to the Water Treatment Plant will be made, besides construction of a 750 MLD capacity WTP at Bommarasipeta.
– Construction of 80 ML capacity MBR at Ghanpur including MoM of all reservoirs Project will be ready in 3 years: Board MD The HMWSSB is on fast track since the last couple of years.
Q: A 10TMC capacity new reservoir is being planned at Keshavpuram.
Though the entire project will be completed by November 2018, water supply to some areas will begin from February.
In a couple of months, tenders will be floated for four STPs along the River Musi and four along the nalas in the core city to treat and recycle water.
Q: HMWSSB had plans to extend sewerage connectivity to fringe areas.
GHMC too is planning to buy 50 mini jetting machines to address such issues in peripheral areas.

(CNN)It had already become the world’s biggest cholera outbreak in recent history, but now the number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen since April has hit 1 million, and at an incredibly fast speed.
The International Committee of the Red Cross announced the record Thursday on its official Twitter account Thursday, describing it as "shocking."
"More than 80% of the population lack food, fuel, clean water and access to health care," it said, pointing to some of the underlying causes of the disease.
Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness that kills thousands of people worldwide each year.
It is easily transmitted, by consuming food or water contaminated with the fecal bacteria Vibrio cholerae.
Yemen’s civil war that began in 2015 has left millions of people on the brink of famine, and as clean drinking water becomes harder to find, cholera has spread through communities.
While the rate of cholera contraction is beginning to slow in Yemen, doctors are concerned the reprieve will be short, and fear the onset of diphtheria, another disease that can be deadly, especially for children.
A rapid response by nongovernmental organizations has meant that, although 2,227 people so far have died, according to the WHO, the survival rate has been relatively high.
Here’s how Yemen compares to other notable cholera outbreaks in recent decades:

Following a meeting with Karnataka BJP leaders, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said that Goa was ready to give “reasonable and justified” amount of the Mahadayi river water to the neighbouring state for its drinking needs.
Karnataka BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa and other leaders met Parrikar in the presence of party president Amit Shah in Delhi over the Mahadayi river water sharing issue on Wednesday.
“However, the same needs to be discussed bilaterally as suggested by the Honourable Tribunal (Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal),” Parrikar said in the letter, copies of which were distributed at his press conference here.
Goa and Karnataka are locked in a two-decade-old dispute over the river as Karnataka is planning to build a dam on it.
The river originates in Karnataka before flowing into Goa where it is called Mandovi.
Yeddyurappa, the former Karnataka chief minister, had also written a letter to Parrikar yesterday over utilisation of 7.56 TMC water from the Mahadayi for drinking water needs of drought-prone north Karnataka.
“The government of Goa understands that access to the drinking water is a basic human need….on humanitarian ground, the Government of Goa is willing to consider the request to work out an amicable settlement strictly restricted to drinking water only to the drought-prone areas,” it said.
Talking to reporters, Parrikar said “how much water Karnataka would receive would be worked out through the talks”.
Earlier in the day, Vinod Palyecar, Goa water resources minister, who belongs to the Goa Forward Party, a BJP ally, said the stand of the coastal state remained unchanged.
We are committed to protect our mother #Mhadei & protect each drop of water,” Palyecar tweeted.

Earlier this year, Gov.
Cuomo established the New York State Drinking Water Quality Council to determine what courses of action the state should take in protecting our most vital resource.
The council is responsible for making sure that our communities have access to clean and healthy drinking water while also addressing other major water quality issues, including setting limits on extraordinarily dangerous and currently unregulated contaminants that have been linked to increased risks of various cancers, hormonal disorders and birth defects.
In the face of crumbling water infrastructure, the presence of toxic and industrial pollution and the slashing of the EPA at the federal level, it is more crucial than ever that New York takes the strongest measures toward protecting every water supply throughout the state.
We as New Yorkers must use our voice to urge the New York State Drinking Water Quality Council to put forth the strictest health standards for unregulated water contaminants, to grant our water infrastructure an adequate budget for improvement and safety and to guarantee that we know what is in our drinking water.
This council has been granted an enormous task, and the public must be part of the process to ensure that it is fully completed.
The New York State Drinking Water Quality Council is taking public comments via email at dwqc@health.ny.gov.
To learn more about the quality of your community’s water, visit nypirg.org/whatsinmywater.
Ethan Gormley Local organizer, NYPIRG

Partnership between all three levels of government means clean drinking water and improved wastewater treatment will be flowing in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.
Mike Bossio, MP for Hastings—Lennox and Addington, on behalf of the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities; the Honourable Bob Chiarelli, Ontario Minister of Infrastructure; and Chief R. Donald Maracle, Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, announced this week two new projects in the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte have been approved under the federal government’s Clean Water and Waste Water Fund (CWWF).
The provincial government is providing more than $30,000 of total eligible costs, and the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte will provide the balance of funding.
These investments safeguard the health and well-being of residents, protect waterways and preserve local ecosystems.
“The additional project approvals announced today under the CWWF program provides 75 per cent funding to address MBQ immediate wastewater servicing requirements at our public works and bus barn facility and to support upgrades to our remote metering system in the Bayshore and Highway 2 area that will assist in the efficient monitoring of water use and trending analysis,” stated Maracle.
I am pleased to see the two projects proceed and look forward to future opportunities for funding to address our additional water needs.” Thanks to this investment, residents will soon benefit from cleaner drinking water and better wastewater treatment.
Funding will also go towards the installation of a new septic tank and field at the busing and public works garage, which will provide better on-site wastewater treatment and improved wastewater discharge.
This permanent installation will also allow for a portable unit to be discontinued.
“Working in partnership with First Nations across Ontario, the Government of Canada is supporting sustainable solutions to address water infrastructure on-reserve,” Bossio stated in a government press release.
“Projects like those in the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte will help Canadian communities better protect public health, and safeguard the property and livelihoods of residents and businesses, while conserving the local environment.”

BUCHAREST (Romania), December 20 (SeeNews) – The European Commission said on Wednesday it is providing a total of 86.6 million euro ($102.5 million) to help Romania improve access to drinking water.
The project, which is financed from the Cohesion Fund, includes the renovation and expansion of the waste water treatment system and the potable water distribution system in 23 communes in Alba county, central Romania, the Commission said in a press release.
Some 106,500 inhabitants will benefit from improved access to drinking water.
"Access to clean water should not be a luxury.
Cohesion policy projects represent, in a concrete way, a Europe that is concerned about the well-being of its citizens and about environment protection," Corina Cretu, European Commissioner for regional policy, said.
The Cohesion Fund concerns 15 member states – Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Its funding is allocated to trans-European transport networks and to projects falling under EU environmental priorities.
In November, the EC provided 17 million euro to Romania to improve access to drinking water in Constanta, Ialomita, Gorj, Ilfov and Suceava counties.
($=0.8442 euro)

The U.N. children’s fund (UNICEF) warns children in Yemen risk death as access to clean water runs out, due to import restrictions of fuel into the country.
Saudi Arabia’s blockade of humanitarian and commercial goods into Yemen is causing a crisis on many levels.
UNICEF says the blockade is creating a severe fuel shortage, causing steep price hikes and deepening the country’s already serious water and health crisis.
UNICEF reports the cost of diesel fuel has doubled during the past month, jeopardizing the provision of water especially for the poorest families.
It says water pumping stations serving more than three million people in 14 cities are quickly running out of fuel.
Spokesman Christophe Boulierac says prices of commercially trucked water, a main source for one-fifth of the population, have skyrocketed.
Almost 400,000 children suffer from severe, acute malnutrition in Yemen … and they are fighting for their lives and the poor access to safe drinking water is one of the most important causes of malnutrition," said Boulierac.
It says thousands of children are in a particularly weakened condition and are vulnerable to outbreaks of diseases including acute watery diarrhea and cholera.
It notes life-saving vaccines worth millions of dollars are at risk of being damaged because they cannot be properly stored without fuel.
It warns the crisis afflicting the Yemeni population, and children in particular, will spiral out of control unless fuel and other life-saving humanitarian aid can freely enter the country.