Canadian Water Network (CWN) has launched the Adaptive Planning Community of Practice (AP CoP) — a national initiative designed to support Canadian municipal water utilities in adopting adaptive planning (AP) for long-term infrastructure and system-wide water management. The ultimate goal is to help water utilities better manage uncertainty, climate risks, and evolving infrastructure needs.

On June 18, 2025, participants from 20 different organizations globally heard from Dr. Maya Buchanan — assistant VP of climate, resilience, and sustainability at WSP — who introduced the key elements and value of AP. Dr. Buchanan also shared a case study from the Portland Water Bureau.

What is AP?

AP is a forward-looking planning method that helps organizations respond to uncertainty with flexibility and confidence. Unlike conventional planning, AP enables utilities to adjust their strategies as conditions change due to factors like climate impacts, funding shifts, and population growth.

A key feature of AP is the use of monitoring indicators and trigger points, which help utilities track changes and know when it’s time to shift direction. This enables early, proactive responses in both financial planning and infrastructure investment.

According to Dr. Buchanan, by avoiding overcommitment to any single scenario, AP reduces investment risk, promotes low-regret decisions, and fosters robust, cross-departmental collaboration. This results in a more resilient organization that is better prepared for long-term challenges and equipped to engage stakeholders meaningfully to shape a stronger future.

Case Study: Portland Water Bureau

The Portland Water Bureau (PWB) adopted AP after experiencing forecasting errors and unexpected events, such as wildfires and droughts. These challenges exposed the limitations of conventional planning.

By developing four future scenarios centered on water supply and funding uncertainty, PWB was able to plan for a wide range of conditions. This strategy combines low-regret base actions, which are likely to be beneficial regardless of the future, with adaptive measures that can be activated based on real-world changes, such as population growth.

Over time, adaptive thinking has become an integral part of organizational operation. It helped PWB build a more flexible and resilient long-term plan, improve communication with stakeholders, delay big investments until they were really needed, and stay financially stable—even during economic ups and downs. This also helped avoid sudden rate increases for customers.

Insights from the CoP

Following the presentation by Dr. Buchanan, members were invited to share key challenges they face in planning for long-term water management and infrastructure. Common concerns included keeping pace with rapidly evolving policies and standards, uncertainty around data projections and future conditions, and navigating differing internal priorities and values. When members were asked how they think AP could help address these issues, they highlighted its potential to build staff capacity, enhance stakeholder engagement, and strengthen preparedness planning by providing early identification and prioritization of future risks These insights are shaping the direction for the CoP, with each meeting focused on unpacking a core element of AP to support its broader adoption across the country.

Next steps

The AP CoP will meet quarterly until October 2026. The next AP CoP session is tentatively scheduled for October 15, 2025. During this session, participants will learn about financial planning for AP. If you are interested in joining the AP CoP, you can register here.