Now that the portal and online infrastructure is in place,the biggest challenge going forward will be sustainability. In this, user 'buy-in' is critical; it is also exponential. That is, the more people and organizations register and make us of the services and features, then the more effective Water Connections becomes. As the volume and value of the information flowing through the portal grows, so too will its membership grow. The challenge then, is to ensure not only a high level of membership, but to ensure a breadth of membership that permeates all sectors and level of the water resource community.

Future initiatives will also focus on increasing the features and functions offered by waterconnect.ca. Plans for a more sophisticated data search function are already underway, and technical staff are brainstorming the possibility of incorporating actual data exhange resources and web mapping functions. Such features would likely be modelled after existing resources like CSW's Watersheds InfoXchange of 2004.

Funding is always a challenge, and with Water Connections devoted to open and free access, locating and securing core funding going forwad will pose a serious challenge. Potential resources do exist in a number of forms: additional grants from government and private sector foundations, corporate sponsorship, as well as cash and in-kind donations from individuals, organizations and businesses.

Water Connections represents a new approach to how we collectively manage our shared water resources, but in these initial stages, it is still only a tool - it needs to be used in order to be useful. Long term sustainability requires secure funding, and this, in turn, demands demonstrated capacity and effectiveness of Water Connections and waterconnect.ca.