To the editor:

Clean water. Two words that mean life; a good, healthy life. In the Okanagan, water issues have become newsworthy over the last number of years.

One aspect of having clean drinking water in Canada, that I was not aware of until recently, is that we have no federal standards for clean drinking water. Canada lags far behind most countries when it comes to our water rights. In fact, more than 110 countries91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ”over half of Earth91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s nations91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ”already recognize their citizens91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™ right to live in a healthy environment.

Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms is silent on the issue.

A federal environmental bill of rights would help compensate for this omission and promote better environmental protections, build healthier communities and position Canada as a leader on environmental rights.

In this beautiful valley, we are coming to realize how precious our water is to us. It's time for the federal government to implement the right to clean water in Canada by passing an environmental bill of rights that respects, protects and fulfils our right to a healthy environment, including the right to clean water.

Kelly Rosvold, Kelowna