Celebrating World Water Day

Over the years at Swim Drink Fish, we have created a movement that is, at its heart, about connecting people to water. Our work showed us that the more people we connect to water, the better chance we have at protecting and restoring water together. It is about building a community of people working together for a swimmable, drinkable, fishable future for all. 

Canada is a water nation. We are all water people. But most people living here are disconnected from their local waters. That is one of the biggest environmental problems that we must all work to overcome: disconnection. 

This disconnection is at the root of so many common concerns, from sewage spills and climate change to plastic pollution. Mental health issues and rising heart disease are also symptoms of our collective nature deficit. Youth, newcomers, and lower income families are disproportionately impacted.

Communities have the right to safely swim, drink, and fish their waters. 

At Swim Drink Fish, our programs connect people to the water’s edge, then train them to collect and share water health data. We then leverage that network and data to restore our waterbodies. 

Our Great Lakes Guide platform connects people with their local blue spaces. Many of those people then join our water monitoring hubs, become citizen scientists, and collect crucial water data. That data is then shared on Swim Guide, an international platform where everyone can openly access information about their local beaches and swimming holes. Communities all across Canada and beyond can then use that data to restore their local ecosystems. Connect. Collect. Share. Restore.

Occasions like World Water Day give us the opportunity to reflect on our waters, promoting the idea that connecting to our blue spaces is critical for our physical and mental health. It strengthens water knowledge and engagement globally, while bringing awareness to water issues. 

With global threats to our climate, ecosystems, and species, it might at first feel daunting to rely so heavily on community connection as the strategy to solve these problems. But of course, as the saying goes, “We need to think global, but act local.”

Water is the foundation for all life. If you care about youth, you care about water. If you care about economic opportunity, you care about water. If you care about reconciliation, you care about water. 

Only if water is protected can our other goals be achieved.