We are pleased to present the latest update from CWN’s Canadian Municipal Water Consortium, a national network of utility leaders who share a common goal of advancing municipal water management.
Fall Consortium Leadership Group meeting highlights
The Consortium Leadership Group convened in Toronto ahead of Blue Cities in October. Close to 30 leaders representing 15 municipalities and utilities from across Canada gathered to discuss needs and opportunities for delivering resilient water services given the compounding challenges of climate change, rapid growth and socioeconomic conditions.
Participants exchanged insights with senior Infrastructure Canada officials about effectively aligning federal funding with municipal water systems’ needs. Meeting outcomes included a better understanding of shared challenges related to integrating resilience across water utilities and the need for capital delivery process innovation. Participants also discussed approaches for equitably financing infrastructure and prioritizing strategic investments for long-term benefits.
Introducing two new strategic sharing groups
This fall, the Canadian Municipal Water Consortium launched two new Strategic Sharing Groups (SSGs) that bring senior municipal and utility leaders together to exchange knowledge on emerging issues.
The first SSG focuses on harnessing the power of data. During the SSG’s first meeting in October, participants shared the work they were doing at the time to advance data governance and analytics. They also discussed shared challenges their organizations were facing at the time, and continue to face. Many members noted that they are working to better understand how to use large data sets to manage programs, while some members discussed undergoing reorganizations that bring together all business units under one umbrella, as well as centralizing the data through aggregation and data boards or roadmaps. Building on these conversations, the next meeting in January will highlight Halifax Water’s five-year data roadmap, as well as facilitate discussions on actions to overcome common barriers that members are facing.
The second SSG focuses on climate resilience through stormwater management. This SSG was launched in recognition of the fact that mitigation and adaptation work together, and the desire to complement the Net-Zero Strategic Sharing Group, which focuses on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.
During the kick-off meeting in November, participants discussed stormwater management best practices that have been undertaken by participating municipalities. This group will start meeting on a regular basis in 2024 to continue discussing innovative approaches, tools and technologies for stormwater management. This SSG comes at a critical time as communities across the country are working to better understand how to handle stormwater flows.
Annual contaminants of emerging concern strategic sharing group: The state of PFAS and microplastics
The annual contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) SSG met in September. During the meeting, a roundtable discussion focused on emerging trends in per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) and microplastics. Many participants indicated that they are monitoring and researching PFAS. At the same time, they highlighted the need to craft more robust communications messaging on CECs. Professor Bob Andrews from the University of Toronto presented a brief overview of the state of microplastics research and collaborations of the Drinking Water Research Group with other municipalities, showcasing effective collaboration between academia and municipalities in monitoring CECs.
Looking into 2024
In the new year, CWN will continue to support peer-to-peer learning opportunities by convening the annual check-in meeting for the affordability SSG and the bi-annual check-in meeting for the net-zero SSG. At these meetings, participants will share updates on the progress their organizations are making on these complex challenges so that other municipalities and utilities can learn from their experience. Participants will also gain insights on evolving trends from external experts.
Also on the horizon is a new paper that will explore the complex intersection between fiscal sustainability, affordability and equity, and climate resiliency. This paper builds on discussions from the affordability SSG, where members discussed approaches and strategies for balancing the books while taking into consideration community equity challenges. A summary of the paper will be available in the January/February 2024 issue of Water Canada’s magazine.
In addition to this, exciting initiatives with key partners are taking shape for 2024 that will advance thematic challenge areas of increasing the financial resilience of community water services and strategies to manage uncertainty and future risk. In particular, CWN will explore the opportunities of taking new and innovative approaches to capital delivery, and connecting nationally and across sectors to support progress on climate adaptation and mitigation. Stay tuned!