Investment and operational decisions in water and wastewater management need to be made, despite uncertainty related to climate change, emerging contaminants, regulatory changes and unforeseen challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts to realize co-benefits can build resilience across the water sector in the face of uncertainty, now and into the future. Creative approaches that [...]
The impacts of extreme weather events are a major challenge for Canada’s people, environment and economy, and flooding has caused significant damage over the past two decades. For all sectors, responding to this challenge requires that we develop effective approaches to manage the risks involved by better identifying, understanding and responding to them. An opportunity [...]
Canada’s rapidly evolving situation during the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged business-as-usual for water and wastewater utilities, requiring modifications to staffing and operations and the prioritization of activities, including ongoing maintenance and construction projects. Since March 20, 2020, Canadian Water Network has facilitated weekly discussions with decision makers from up to 30 large and mid-sized water [...]
PSD, Canadian Water Network, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association have partnered on a project that highlights five Canadian utilities (EPCOR/Edmonton, Kenora, Moncton, Saskatoon and Union Water Supply System) that are collecting and utilizing data to support infrastructure vulnerability assessment and increase resilience to climate change. These case studies [...]
Canadian Water Network, in partnership with the Insurance Bureau of Canada, evaluated how higher-resolution topographical and municipal flood-defence data impacts flood risk evaluation. Data from Natural Resources Canada and five Canadian municipalities was collected over 8 months to test whether pluvial hazard maps derived from large-scale risk models would change, and the degree to which [...]
In 2017, Canadian Water Network partnered with PSD and the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association to better understand asset management practices in Canada. Asset managers and water system managers in 58 municipalities across Canada were surveyed about what asset data they collect and how this data is being used to support decisions regarding maintenance, repair [...]
This study applied a state-of-the-art coupled hydrologic-flood insurance model to estimate property damage under climate change scenarios — both change in average annual losses and extreme event simulations.
The research team undertook a comprehensive assessment of the City of Windsor's infrastructure using a functionality-survivability-sustainability framework to inform decisions on where to direct resources to increase resiliency to climate change.
This overall objective of this project was to moderate the impacts of urban run-off and extreme storm events through green infrastructure on private lands through “user pay” models and other incentives. Approaches like these will reduce the demand for grey stormwater infrastructure and generate a dedicated source of funds for maintenance, renewal and expansion.
The purpose of this project was to propose a common framework and management approach that can be used by drinking water providers and regulators to address risk and uncertainty for the guarantee of safe drinking water.