Financial Public Relation Essay Example

Financial Public Relation Essay Example Financial Public Relation Essay Financial Public Relation Essay Financial Public Relations What is Financial PR? Simply put, communicating with the financial public is known as financial public relations. But, then, if all publics are equal in the eyes of PR, how do some publics come to gain special importance with the same PR? In fact, these special publics are quite sizeable in number and form dominant groups in the domain of financial public relations. They matter more to the organization although no PR and management can ignore any public, and effective communication with all of them is essential for the existence of the organization itself. In general, the financial public, who are of immediate concern to the organization, comprise the following: i) the registered shareholders; i) the investing community including potential shareholders with available funds for spending or saving; iii) the direct financial community consisting of banks and financial institutions, stockbrokers, and a variety of key players in the global money market, individual or institutional; iv) the financial and economic press in particular should include a large number of newspapers, trade journals other publications and the electronic media in general, who evince interest in economics and finance; and v) the audience in the market scenario comprising the business community, politician, customers, employees, and on specific occasions, the general public. Rol e of Financial PR : The role and importance of corporate and financial public relations has come for revaluation against the backdrop of intense communication activity in the financial sector. A sense of vision, objectives, values, styles and appreciation of its own role are the guiding factors for the PR in the centre stage. PR has several avenues of exposure and success to perform its role in the widening canvas of financial public relations. A few examples: i) Assist the company in achieving the corporate objectives. One of the most important considerations for any company is to look after the interests of its shareholders. (There are many companies which do not even respond to their shareholders’ enquiries. One can imagine the plight of their customer). i) Effective communication can play a crucial role in creating investor awareness. It can give a boost to the share price provided the campaign is backed by good performance thereby encouraging business development. iii) The host of communicat ion tools at the command of PR are essential to any company going public whether in the private or in the public sectors. PR communication, in good and effective form, can provide the opportunities to deliver correct messages to all those involved in the evaluation of the financial performance of a company. iv) In the overall communication activities, it would be necessary to identify the status and role of PR in the financial management of the enterprise. Here, the top management would be required to acknowledge the role PR can play in the realms of raising of capital, tackling capital resources and ensuring business development on a continuous basis. v) PR has to be adept in the management of change in the context of the challenges and opportunities of PR tools and methods in the fast changing financial services. vi) In its own professional interest of business as a whole, PR must come to full grips with business finance. In fact, many PR persons have been ruined by financial illiteracy while dealing with the financial media. The financial picture of the company should be crystal clear to PR persons and they will be expected to understand key financial statement. Primarily, any PR person involved in financial communication should possess the accountancy concepts and accounting language, and acquire the basic knowledge of important accounting terms. Some of them are: Structure of Balance Sheet and Profit Loss Account. Return on capital employed and return on shareholders’ capital. Gross Profit, net profit and taxation issues. Control of working capital and liquidity. Cost concept. Depreciation expenses. Investment and Dividend. Market Capitalization, debt and equity. Profitability index. Budgets and plans. Key strategies and operating concepts. The Press The Press will continue to play an ever- increasing role as a means of communication by companies to various categories of investors and the financial public. The press activity helps the shareholders, potential investors and analysts to maintain a record and understand the performance of the company on the financial front. Media Relations An effective media relations programme aimed at creating a suitable environment for sustained and honest relationship between the company and the media is an essential requirement for the success of any business enterprise. PR has to make a judicious selection of newspapers, journals and electronic media as also billboards, hoarding etc. towards gaining the support of the investors and for boosting the image of the company and its public issue. A checklist for the Media Plan will be helpful in achieving the objective, that is, to make the most of a media plan. REACH: How far does the projected media information provide a picture of the real situation? Available data cause more confusion than clarity. ATTENTION: Innovative steps through electronic media are restricted but instant. In press, the possibilities are endless. Both must co-exist, each with its own advantage. DURABILITY: Press advertisements have a better longevity. TV, on the other hand, might carry a lasting impression in the mind AUDIENCE: Press can attract serious reader on a sustained basis. Electronic media has the attraction of bringing newer breed of people to its fold. INFORMATION: Press can easily pack in much more detailed information which the Financial reader constantly need. TV can flash the bare essentials Which are just not enough. Press Release Press releases are a traditional method of handing out information and is a useful tool with the PR professionals. Two important factors in a financial press release are: a) The released story point of view that is, the news may have an impact on the share price of the company. Even change of guard at the helm of affairs may create a flutter in the market. b) High news value press releases have to be sensitively handled in favour of the company. ) Press releases are to be made according to the needs and available space of particular publications. For instance, specialist financial and economic journals and newspapers can easily accommodate quite a long, sizable story whereas some others will have little or moderate space. Therefore, there is need for subdividing a release into long and short hand-out s. d) A golden rule in dealing with the press is not to rush out with a press release until opposing factors have fully been taken into account. Many times it has been observed that a defensive release on an issue when the matter is under surveillance by the press just adds the proverbial fuel to the fire. However, in financial press releases, it pays to be free and frank; keep the initiative but avoid clever tricks and cheap gimmicks to impress or win over the press. Press Kit Preparing an appropriate press kit, specially in the event of a financial press conference, is of crucial importance. What should go into a press kit? Checklist for an ideal Press Kit a) A major press release is always expected at a major press meet which normally sums up the event. b) A bunch of photographs will be useful. These may include portraits of newsmaker and general, sometimes specific view of production or service operations, product photos etc. Instead of photos, or in conjunction with photos, an artist’s depictions of a physical object are effective as well. c) Brochures and biographies are useful hand-outs. Brochures, in addition to providing a succinct history of the organization, must give detailed financial particulars in which the media will find background information about the company. Biographies must pertain to achievements of the top management persons in achieving the financial goals. d) It is a good idea to provide a text or summary of the speech of the main speaker in the press kit. This simplifies the job of the media people and they appreciate it very much. The speaker has to stay quite close to the circulated text during his actual speech, otherwise, there may be confusion leading to inaccurate reporting. e) Annual Report of the Company providing balance sheet and a statement of profit and loss account of the company during the last one year. A question-answer session will be used to clarify points mentioned in the text of speech or when the journalists make reference to issues which are related to the main topic or to the functioning of the company. This is risky ground which has to be treated cautiously. Annual Report An annual report is the most essential and first-hand communication to introduce the company to the financial public as well as to financial collaborators. It is an obligation on the part of the management to present audited accounts of the company before the shareholders at the annual general meeting. The annual reports would have passed through phases of dynamic changes but the basic requirements are: i) Chairman’s speech. ii) Report of the Board of Directors. iii) Balance Sheet. iv) Profit and Loss account. v) Auditor’s Reports.

Identity and Representation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Identity and Representation - Essay Example Violent identity representation can also emanate from lack of awareness on personal identity that stresses on upholding of values and moral standards. For instance, I played soccer because it was the most popular sport among my friends. The relationship with my friends also made me rebellious. After enrolling in early education, my entire identity changed from being introverted and serene to notoriety and callous extroversion. My childhood was characterized by the development of friendships that did not last for long. My male status and Arabian origin warranted me the freedom necessary to play around and conflict with people. Although my behavior was unbecoming, I commanded respect and recognition among elder people owing to my dynamic identity and perceived sense of self. This fact made me feel that I did not belong to the group of naughty individuals all through my life. At the age of twelve the friends that I had inflicted enormous negative influence on me to a point of being rebe llious towards my parents. The new identity I acquired negatively affected my performance in school. It also made me develop disregard for the authorities resulting in occasional conflicts with the teachers. Most of my friends seemed attracted by my reckless behavior and encouraged me to be more notorious instead of rethinking my actions. Although I enjoyed such behaviors, my inner self did not approve of such behaviors making me to develop an epiphany. Communication within childhood groups was easy because the common language that most schools normally used was Arabic that everyone understood. However, uneasy moments arose when we had to use English when interacting with strangers or new group members. It was challenging to join other groups because one had to learn the tactics and practices of the new group as well as know the new group members. Understanding the diverse identities of many people is a challenge for everyone especially teenagers who have no experience in connecting.

Multicultural Education Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Multicultural Education - Coursework Example Creating a multicultural environment requires one to be non-judgmental and open. It is important that teachers act genuinely among diverse students. Classes have students with different experiences from all over the world, some good and some traumatizing. A number of students are refugees of different ethnic backgrounds running from war-torn countries. Some students may be poor and others from extremely wealthy families (Banks & Banks, 2010, p.49). Teachers should, therefore, respect students for who they are and accommodate their thoughts and concerns. Multicultural classrooms have children from different linguistic background. To have a better understanding of their students, teachers need to research the native backgrounds of these students. They should embrace the language differences since it gives them an insight into their customs and behavior. Schools should have multicultural libraries no matter the subjects taught. Having a variety of books from multicultural authors excites an ordinary classroom (Wayne, 2009, p. 34). Perhaps the most exciting way of creating a multi-cultural environment is celebrating cultural differences among students. Schools can accomplish this through simple events such as food fairs highlighting different cultures and cultural music. As countries continue to exhibit great diversity in classes, must teachers and students to understand and accept differences among people. There is, therefore, a significant challenge among educators to develop an effective multicultural education curriculum through which all students can learn happily with each

Public Infrastructure Key Essay Example for Free

Public Infrastructure Key Essay The PKI is a set of hardware, software, procedures and people for the creation, distribution, storing and management of digital certificates. It also maintains the networking environment of an organization by providing management service which could enable digital signature capabilities. It also enabled the users of unsecure public network for exchanging and private cryptographic key pair in order to obtain and share a trusted authority between the management of an organization. For improving an organization, PKI includes use of digital signatures, certificate validation, and permission management service in order to implement a wide variety of enterprise solution within an organization. The implementation of certification authority is primary way of PKI in which it could benefit an organization and Information security department by providing public key and authority. In this way, both organization and Information security department is benefited from the implementation of user keys. The web of trust is the second way in which PKI provides an alternative approach of public key information for enabling the issue digital certificates for user, applications and devices of an organization and Information security department. Establishment of leverage certification authentication is the third way which benefits an organization and Information security department by maintaining an auditable database of users in order to secure privacy histories of Information security department. The development of Certification Authority is the way in which PKI could assist in the process of signing the company’s software by providing root of trust and services for the authentication of computers, individuals and other entities in a network. This is because, it saves certificate requests and issues certificates for signing the company’s software by means of saving the encryption keys in the certificate database for recovering the data loss of  computer’s softwar e. Consumer could believe that the software is to be authentic and because Certification Authority is valuable in authenticating software effectively. Consumer can get authentic software by the establishment of keys which are valid and trustworthy and in order to provide the assurance of software, it represents the people, system and process for the creation of digital certificates of software. For benefiting consumers, Certification Authority is having three kinds of information which are user’s name in the format of distinguished name, verification of user’s digital signature for software and encryption and verification of digital signatures of software. The public CA is considered as an accountable CA for any failure of PKI and on the other hand, in-house CA is integrated in Active Directory. The public CA would trust a digital certificate and in-house CA is performed upon its own tasks for simplifying the management of CA structure. The certificate management of public CA is lower than in-house CA. These are the positive characteristics of both public and in-house CA. The negative characteristics of public and in-house CA are that infrastructure of public CA is limited and it has less flexibility, in-public CA is more complicated and business partners would not trust in-house CA. When comparing both public and in-house CA, the Public Certification will be better in implementing within an organization and because Public CA provides effective self-registration, digital identities, enrollment services and PIN authentication than in-house CA. Public CA is a highly functional and trustworthy when comparing with in-house CA. Hence, PKI contributes the management of life cycle of digital certificates, profiles of administration for an organization and Information security department. References Vacca, Jhn R. (2004). Public key infrastructure: building trusted applications and Web services. CRC Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-8493-0822-2. Adams, Carlisle Lloyd, Steve (2003). Understanding PKI: concepts, standards, and deployment considerations. Addison-Wesley Professional. pp. 11–15. ISBN 978-0-672-32391-1. TrÄ ek, Denis (2006). Managing information systems security and privacy. Birkhauser. p. 69. ISBN 978-3-540-28103-0.

Adrenoleukodystrophy and Myelin Essay -- Biology Essays Research Paper

Adrenoleukodystrophy and Myelin: Where's the Connection? Adrenoleukodystrophy. Also known as ALD. Ten years ago many people would not be familiar with this extremely rare childhood disease. But now awareness has increased as a result of the 1992 MCA Universal film, "Lorenzo's Oil". This true story movie shows the struggles of a family whose son is dying from this disease and their fight to try to save him and children like him. After seeing this movie myself I became very interested in ALD and the possible ways to cure or treat it. In the last decade there has been some amazing research done in conjunction with this disease and the few others who, like it, occur as a result from the breakdown or loss of myelin in the brain. The first step in understanding adrenoleukodystrophy is to ask what it is and how it works. According to the fact sheet put out by the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, MD in 1997, "ALD is a rare, genetic disorder characterized by the breakdown or loss of the myelin sheath surrounding nerve cells in the brain and progressive dysfunction of the adrenal gland" (1). This disorder affects fatty acid metabolism which causes the dysfunction of the adrenal glands, the nervous system, and the testes (2). This leads to progressive neurological disability and death (3). Physical symptoms include, but are not limited to, visual loss, deafness, learning disabilities, seizures, dysarthria (poorly articulated speech), dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), strabismus (crossed eyes), fatigue, disturbance in gait and coordination, vomiting, paralysis, blindness, melanoderma, and dementia (1) (2) (4). But this disease does not stop with merely physical changes, there are many behavioral changes which are parti... ...gs are almost never what you think they are. WWW Sources 1)Adrenoleukodystrophy, http://www.ninds.nih.gov/HEALINFO/DISORDER/Adrenoleukodystrophy/adrenoleuko.html 2)Adrenoleukodystrophy, http://www.healthanswers.com/database/ami/converted/001182.html 3)NCBI: Adrenoleukodystrophy, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disease/ALD.html 4) ADRENOLEUKODYSTROPHY , http://www.kid-med.org/pedbase/adrenole.htm 5)The Myelin Project , http://www.myelin.org/ 6)TMP Newsletter , http://www.myelin.org/112698pr.html 7)Virtual Hospital: Radiology Resident Case of the Week Adrenal Leukodystrophy (ALD) , http://www.vh.org/adult/provider/radiology/RCW/012696/012696.html 8) Neurodegenerative Disorders of Childhood- Dr. Greene's House Calls , http://www.drgreene.com/21_525.html 9) Metachromatic Leukodystrophy , http://www.duke.edu/~pdrh/MLD.html

Can Art Change the Way We View the World

Can Art Change the Way We View the World? Susan Agee Classics in Philosophy of Art – P346 Gregory Steel Fall 2012 For centuries, art has been interwoven throughout the history of mankind. From primitive carvings on cave walls and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, to the Sistine Chapel and the Mona Lisa, artistic creations have enthralled the human race. Art may be a window to the creator’s world; it has potential to instill desire in the viewer to do something they have never done, be somewhere they have never been and inspire to fulfill a dream or goal.Additionally, Art may possibly allow the artist to illustrate their own perception of a place or even attempt to deceive the viewer. However, to truly understand how we see the world we must delve a little deeper than the obvious, which is through our senses, particularly sight. In order to comprehend the world around us, we must first realize that thoughts are based on perception foremost and that those ideas then create a subjective model of the world, constructed from experience, memory, logical inference, and our brain's ability to map out its own internal representation of our individual surroundings.Therefore, whether it is through visual art, literature, poems, sculpture, photography or cinema, art may very well be able to change the way we see the world, by changing our perception. The first recognizable art dates from at least 38. 000BC in Europe, Africa, and Australia. They are the products of minds as intellectually capable and sophisticated as our modern ones and they were just like us, despite the fact that their society was slightly more primitive than ours. Works of this early period are not simple, as if created by a child, but in fact they are quite complex pieces depicting animals, humans and symbols.Additionally, drawings similar to maps, as well as carvings, portable art and elaborately decorated animal skulls have been found in caves all over the world. In the book The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art by David Lewis-Williams, the author describes these items stating â€Å"many of these pieces bear images of animal, fish, birds and, less commonly, what appear to be human figures as well as complex arrangements of parallel lines, chevrons and notches. These objects d’art as people tend to think of them, were made from bone, mammoth ivory, amber and antler† (Lewis-Williams 2004).Were these ancient artists creating images to simply communicate with others or were they expressing their emotions in the only way they knew how? Although there is no way to tell for certain the artists’ intentions, it is evident that this â€Å"art† played a role in prehistoric society. Still, art has not always had the same meaning as it does today. In fact, in the time of the philosophers Plato, Socrates and Aristotle the idea of art was related to the Latin word ars, which means craft or specialized form.These individuals based their views of art on the notion that the artist must be trained for his craft and each had differing, yet very similar ideas about art and its place in society. For instance, Socrates believed that paintings and poems â€Å"stand triply removed from the real; that is, there are two realms of existence more real than art objects, the Forms themselves and the things of daily life. The basis for this view is the assumption that the goal of art is the imitation of mundane reality† (Wartenberg, 13). Our brain has developed a way of viewing the world over millions of years of evolution that enables us to succeed and survive.Natural selection has tuned our brains so that we may navigate, manipulate, and meaningfully differentiate our environment and the objects contained in it. So what we see in our minds is a functional model of the physical world, which closely approximates it but is not identical to it; certainly not in the way we are in the habit of assuming. But still this traditio nal skepticism about perceptual experience has often created questions as to whether we can know that things are as we experience them as being, or if the visual world is a grand illusion.To illustrate this idea that perceptual experience may be different than what is real, consider the optical illusion. Artists such as Charles Allan Gilbert and M. C. Escher were masters of the craft of illusion in art. For example, in 1892 Charles Allan Gilbert drew a picture that he called â€Å"All is Vanity†. This piece of artwork is an ambiguous optical illusion using a skull, which has been the object of many pieces of this type, where we see more than one thing in the picture. If we view the overall image, we see a human skull. When we focus on the details of the picture, we see a woman ooking in her vanity mirror. If we look at a close-up, cropped image of â€Å"All is Vanity†, we don't see the skull we just see details of a woman sitting at her dressing table. However, if we e xpand our view, even without seeing the entire image, once we know we're going to see a skull, we can't help but see it. Also, when we look at the picture from a distance, because of all the black surrounding it, once the details of the woman get distorted we still only see a skull. Additionally, M. C. Escher used his expertise in mathematics to create his optical illusions in art.He was fascinated with tessellations, which are arrangements of closed shapes that completely cover the plane without overlapping and without leaving gaps. Typically, the shapes making up a tessellation are polygons or similar regular shapes, such as the square tiles often used on floors. Escher, however, was fascinated by every kind of tessellation – regular and irregular – and took special delight in what he called â€Å"metamorphoses,† in which the shapes changed and interacted with each other, and sometimes even broke free of the plane itself.The regular solids, known as polyhedra, held a special fascination for Escher. He made them the subject of many of his works and included them as secondary elements in a great many more. In the woodcut â€Å"Four Regular Solids† Escher has intersected all but one of the Platonic solids in such a way that their symmetries are aligned, and he has made them translucent so that each is discernible through the others. Additionally, among the most important of Escher's works from a mathematical point of view are those dealing with the nature of space. In the book â€Å"The Magic of M.C. Escher† J. I. Locher states â€Å" this unique interplay between insight and limitation, between possible and impossible worlds has given Escher’s body of work a wholly personal presence in the panorama of visual arts† (J. I. Locher 2000). His woodcut â€Å"Circle Limit III† is a good place to review these works, for it exemplifies the artist's concern with the dimensionality of space, and with the mind's abil ity to discern three-dimensionality in a two-dimensional representation and Escher often exploited this latter feature to achieve astonishing visual effects.To get a sense of what this space is like, one can imagine that he or she is actually in the picture itself. Walking from the center of the picture towards its edge, he/she would shrink just as the fishes in the picture do, so that to actually reach the edge one would have to walk a distance that, to the individual, seems infinite. Indeed, being inside this hyperbolic space, it would not be immediately obvious that anything was unusual about it – after all, one has to walk an infinite distance to get to the edge of ordinary Euclidean space too.However, if one is observant enough, he/she might begin to notice some odd things, such as that all similar triangles were the same size, and that no straight-sided figure we could draw would have four right angles; that is, this space doesn't have any squares or rectangles. In addi tion to ambiguous and mathematical illusions, there is a process known as anamorphosis. There are two types of anamorphosis: perspective or oblique and Mirror, or catoptric. It requires the viewer to use special devices or occupy a specific vantage point to recreate the image.While some of these works of art are more advanced than others, one thing remains constant; the perception of depth in a two-dimensional illustration. With mirror anamorphosis, a conical or cylindrical mirror is placed on the drawing or painting to transform a flat distorted image into a three dimensional picture that can be viewed from many angles. The deformed image is painted on a plane surface surrounding the mirror. By looking uniquely into the mirror, the image appears as it should in natural form.Just as Escher and Gilbert were masters in creating works of illusion with their drawings, so too are the artists that give life to their renditions of this type. Salvador Dali was among many other artists of hi s time to have been intrigued with this form of art and utilized this technique in many of his paintings. Modern day artists of this sort use sidewalks, underpasses, buildings and pavement as their canvases. This type of art is referred to as â€Å"3D art† and it has been seen everywhere from London to New York.

The Water Sustainability Act - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2134 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Law Essay Type Review Level High school Did you like this example? The Future of Sustainable Protection of Surface and Groundwater; The Water Sustainability Act. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Water Sustainability Act" essay for you Create order Introduction: The Water Sustainability Act is a new law that will be replacing the current Water Act that was made in 1909. The water act has now been outdated pertaining to our water needs, and our growing populations. The Water Sustainability Act will bring B.C. water laws into the 21st century. The water Sustainability Act will update the current laws from the Water Act, and also bring new policies into consideration, an example of this would be treating groundwater and surface water as one resource and protecting them both. The seven key areas that will be included in the Water Sustainability Act include: (A Water Sustainability Act For B.C., 2014, October) Protect stream health and aquatic environments Consider water in land use decisions Regulate and protect groundwater Regulate water use during times of scarcity Improve security, water use, efficiency and conservation Measure and report large scale water use Provide for a range of governance approaches These improvements to the Water Act will insure that we are protecting are water so that we can be sustainable in the future. By protection the stream health and aquatic environments it prevents the dumping of wastes and pollutants. It also will protect streams from droughts. If the amount of water in a stream or river is effecting the aquatic life, there will be protection orders put out to stop any water being taken out of the stream or river, and anything that is under the influence of it. Another part of the act will be considering water in land use decisions. This is mainly focusing on sustainable development. The water on this planet will be protected and thought of before any development pertains near a water source. This will happen because new water objectives will be defined, and there will be more decision making towards a long-term health of aquatic environments, streams, rivers and any body of water. In this act the groundwater will also be protected, which is the first time in history that groundwater has been treated as a source water in British Columbia. Protection of groundwater will include; licencing of groundwater with an exception to domestic use, improvement of knowledge on the aquifers and wells, and updating all drilling requirements. These rules will improve our groundwater in quality and quantity because it will show how much groundwater is being used, how much groundwater every aquifer and well can give while still being sustainable, and by updating the drill requirements it protects from contamination of groundwater while improving the treatment process following source groundwater. The next point of the Water Sustainability Act is protecting water sources during scarcity. This will allow for adequate water needs for humans, but will also allow temporary restrictions to protect the quantity of water and the aquatic life that lives in it. By doing this every water source will always have adequate amounts for aquatic life as well as h umans. The Water Sustainability Act will also improve security, water use, efficiency and conservation. Which allows for all water licences to be reviewed every 30 years, makes sure that all water users are using the water beneficially and in a conserving way. By measuring water uses, all big water users must report how much they use, this allows for people to have a set amount they are allowed to use, and they can pay a set amount for the water. This stops companies coming to British Columbia, taking our water in large amounts for free, and then selling it back to us. The last point of the Water Sustainability Act is enabling government approaches. This will allow for other agencies other the government to partake in water sustainability. Which will allow the public to have more say what they think is sustainable for our water. (A Water Sustainability Act For B.C., 2014, October) Even though every part of the Water Sustainability Act is important to the conservation, protection and sustainability of our water; the focus of this paper will be on the protection of streams and aquatic ecosystems, regulating water during scarcity and groundwater protection. Regulations: In the Water Sustainability Act, the protection of our streams and aquatic ecosystems is provided. British Columbians had shown extreme support measures to protect stream health. This includes lakes, rivers, creeks and all bodies of water. (A Water Sustainability Act For B.C., 2014, October) The Water Sustainability Act protects stream and aquatic health by: (A Water Sustainability Act For B.C., 2014, October) Environmental thresholds are considered when new allocations to water are made. This applies to surface water and ground water except in low-risk situations. Expanding on roles when dumping debris that currently exists in the Fish Protection Act. This includes debris like human and animal wastes, pesticides and fertilizers Section 15 of the Water Sustainability Act is focused on environmental flow needs. In this section it is mentioned that the decision maker must consider flow needs of a stream in new constructions or projects. In these projects, assessments must be done, and the decision maker will then determine if this project will continue based on the effects on the stream or body of water. (Bill 18 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  2014: Water Sustainability Act, 2014, April 29) In section 86 of the Water Sustainability Act, Declarations of significant water shortages are protected. It stated that if there are one or more streams that are at high-risk of critical environmental flow thresholds, the minister will make an order protecting the current flows of the stream, and any bodies of water that come in contact with the high-risk stream. These orders that are made cannot be longer than 90 days. Once this order has expired, the minister may make another order and asses if the stream or body of water is still high-risk or not. (Bill 18 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  2014: Water Sustainability Act, 2014, April 29) Section 46 prohibits the introduction of foreign matter into a stream. It includes anyone introducing, or someone allowing anyone else to introduce foreign matter such as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“debris, refuse, human and animal waste, pesticides, fertilizers, contaminants or any other matter or substance into or adjacent to a stream. These foreign substances must not be added where it will cause significant adverse impact to any of the following: (Bill 18 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  2014: Water Sustainability Act, 2014, April 29) Stream or stream channel Existing uses of water from a stream Property or riparian owners of the stream An aquifer that is hydraulically connected to the stream or the existing uses of the water from an aquifer Aquatic ecosystem of a stream These practices do not apply to a forest practice or prescribed activity, practice or substance. Section 56 provides rules on decommissioning or deactivating wells. Wells are considered to be in service when they are used on a regular basis, or when it is considered a backup supply. A well is considered out of service when it hasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t been used for a period of time or has prescribed circumstances. When a well isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t in service it must be deactivated or decommissioned under section 46 of the Water Sustainability Act. (Bill 18 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  2014: Water Sustainability Act, 2014, April 29) Some definitions to understand that are stated in the Water Sustainability Act, Stream Health protection section retrieved from Bill 18 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  2014: Water Sustainability Act, 2014, April 29; include: Aquatic ecosystem- means living organisms and their life processes dependent on the natural environment of a stream. Critical environment flow threshold- meaning the volume of water flow below significant or irreversible harm to aquatic ecosystem of a stream is likely to occur. Environmental flow needs- means the volume and timing of water flow required for proper functioning of the aquatic ecosystem. In the Water Sustainability Act, groundwater will be regulated and protected. This is important because one fourth of people rely on groundwater for drinking supply, and or industrial uses. The current Water Act does not regulate groundwater. This means that anyone can accesses our groundwater without permission from the government, and free of charge. The Water Sustainability Act will address this issue by regulating our groundwater as we regulate our surface water. Groundwater users will have to hold a licence and be charged an annual fee for the use of the groundwater. The only exception of this rule is for domestic uses, as long as the aquifer is not in high demand. This act will also collect data on usages and information from owners and well users to improve the knowledge of the aquifer, and its water availability. This rule will help us with future water allocations. (A Water Sustainability Act For B.C., 2014, October) Section 83 of the Water Sustainability Act will put laws and restrictions on groundwater activity by prohibiting: (Bill 18 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  2014: Water Sustainability Act, 2014, April 29) Construction of Wells Installing well pumps Conducting flow tests Performing another activity in relation to a well or groundwater This section only applies if it poses a threat under the Water Sustainability Act or if the person doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t hold a drilling authorization. A comptroller or water manager mat amend or cancel well drilling if there is high risk situations. (Bill 18 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  2014: Water Sustainability Act, 2014, April 29) Section 130 has regulations respecting groundwater and groundwater works. This regulates artificial openings in the ground that may not be classified as a well, but are still under the direct influence of groundwater or an aquifer. Well drillers and pump installers are protected and regulated by this section under the Water Sustainability Act with respect to section 83. Some other requirements, procedures, standards and codes with respect to groundwater include: (Bill 18 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  2014: Water Sustainability Act, 2014, April 29) Siting wells Construction of wells Installation of well pumps Designing, testing, operating, disinfecting, flood proofing, capping or covering of wells Or any other activities that pertain to groundwater Conclusion: The Water Sustainability Act has many advantages, and few disadvantages. The improvements that have been made under this act can be summed up by; protecting our aquatic environment will be protects by regulating debris dumped in, or around a stream river, or where aquatic life can be effected by the dumping. These debris include human waste, animal waste, pesticides and fertilizers. The environmental flow will also be protected by preventing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“significant or irreversible harm to the aquatic systemsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . Another advantage that the Water Sustainability Act has brought in would be water is now regulated during scarcity. This will protect water quantity with respect to human needs and aquatic lifeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s health. The final version of the Water Sustainability Act will obligate the decision maker to determine what flows should be in a certain river or stream, and then try to reach that goal. This is a change in the perspective of our water uses because b efore the government thought that being right on the limit was healthy, this act now shows that instead of pushing our water uses to the limit, we should be trying to regain what we had before. The water flows will also be restricted if the stream is labeled as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“sensitiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . This is because the stream is not as protected as it should be, so to get the stream back to the health it was there will be more ruled forming around these streams, rivers and bodies of water. Last but not least the regulation of groundwater, precise mechanisms for giving licences to ground water, which will in time allow development under these licences and allow the governments to have more time to discuss water development with water users, communities, and First Nations people. This will insure that no unsustainable water decisions will be made. (Gage, A, n.d.) The Water Sustainability Act is the future of our water protection ways, as said by the West Coast Environmental Law group; (Gage, A, n.d.) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Water, and how we treat our water, is one of those fundamental issues that touches on so much of who we are, what we do, and how we build our economy. A weak Water Sustainability Act could fail to deal with current unsustainable and inefficient water use, and could lock in these problems for years to come. A strong Act could address past over-use, and wasteful use, of water and protect drinking water and fish from over-use, poor oil and gas, logging or mining practices, and other threats.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Gage, A, n.d.) Water is incapable of protecting its health, as humans, water is our future. The Water Sustainability Act will protect any aspect of our water that hasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t been protected already, and is allowing us as a world to move forward in protection our future, with respect to sustainable development. (Gage, A, n.d.) References: A Water Sustainability Act For B.C. (2014, October 1). Retrieved April 6, 2015, from https://engage.gov.bc.ca/watersustainabilityact/files/2013/10/WSA_overview_web.pdf Bill 18 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  2014: Water Sustainability Act. (2014, April 29). Retrieved April 6, 2015, from https://leg.bc.ca/40th2nd/3rd_read/gov18-3.htm#section86 Gage, A. (n.d.). West Coast Environmental Law. Retrieved April 6, 2015, from https://wcel.org/resources/environmental-law-alert/strengths-and-weaknesses-new-water-sustainability-act 1