Ashleigh Duffy (2022). Water Well Told: Storytelling and its part in source water protection . Proceedings of the GWF Annual Open Science Meeting, May 16-18, 2022.

Drinking water threats have been identified by local champions in the North Saskatchewan River Basin (NSRB) through Source Water Protection (SWP) plans. Most of these plans have been completed by Indigenous communities, with support from the NSRB Council. In my graduate research I developed a framework to analyse the storytelling within and around these SWP plans, which revealed that storytelling can lead to better solutions. The findings of this research embody the theme of this meeting: “Knowledge to Action”. At a local level, knowledge to manage source water is already being shared through the action of storytelling. The most common type of storytelling was that which shares place-based knowledge. However, this knowledge is being shared largely in informal settings instead of the workshops or meetings where professionals attend to listen. Thus, local knowledge is being acted upon in a limited capacity. Importantly, local indigenous historical knowledge only appeared to be shared in informal settings. This finding is not only relevant under the theme of “Knowledge to Action”, but also critical in the decolonization of drinking water solutions for Indigenous communities, and for the involvement of Indigenous Peoples in Canadian water governance.

First Author: Ashleigh Duffy, School of Environment and Sustainability
Additional Authors: Global Water Futures University of Saskatchewan, Prairie Water