Ryan Reynolds and his wife donate half a million dollars to support clean water for Indigenous communities

Vancouver-born actor Ryan Reynolds and his wife Blake Lively have donated half a million dollars to a charity that trains young Indigenous adults to become water treatment plant operators and environmental water science technicians.

Water First Education & Training Inc. says the donation will help train more students and will support programs bringing water science to Indigenous children.

Reynolds and Lively say in a social media statement that ``access to clean drinking water is a basic human right'' and ``there's no reason'' Indigenous communities should not have clean water.

The couple made numerous recent charity donations including one to the Red Cross to support those affected by last fall's severe flooding in southern BC.