Navigating resilience in buried water infrastructure

Canadian Water Network (2026 – Ongoing)

Challenge

Statistics Canada reports that Canada’s waterworks infrastructure had approximately 59 percent of its useful life remaining in 2023, while nearly four out of every 10 kilometres of transmission pipes are in unknown, very poor, or poor condition. With an estimated $270 billion in replacement value of publicly owned potable water assets at stake, Canadian utilities must find effective strategies to maintain existing infrastructure and plan for future buried infrastructure, secure critical investments, and retain stakeholder support.

Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) new Buried Water Infrastructure Strategic Sharing Group will bring municipal utility leaders together to exchange experiences and practical insights related to asset management, infrastructure investment, and risk communication.

Project

The objectives for this Strategic Sharing Group are to inform members with the information needed to:

1. Improve current strategies and frameworks to reflect lessons learned from other utilities.
2. Strengthen asset management and investment decision-making.
3. Advance their organization’s proactive asset management approaches.
4. Apply effective approaches for communicating risk and building support for infrastructure investment.

Outputs

This initiative aims to deliver:

1. A Strategic Sharing Group on managing risk and advancing resilience of buried water infrastructure.
2. Case studies that showcase the approach some Canadian municipalities are taking to strengthen asset management at their organizations.
3. A webinar that illustrates best practices that can help utilities advance asset management, investment decision-making, and/or risk communication.

Outcomes

The Strategic Sharing Group, case studies, and webinar are expected to provide the following outcomes:

1. Increased knowledge of best practices in utilities’ asset management processes and risk management frameworks.
2. Improved internal capacity to communicate business cases for investments in critical infrastructure to key stakeholders.
3. Enhanced collaboration across utilities and relevant organizations.
4. Increased institutional innovation, helping to improve efficiencies in asset management.