The sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) presents scientific evidence that climate change is expected to continue exacerbating drought and flood risks in the coming decades. At the same time, the report also states that adaptation actions are likely to reduce some of these climate risks while providing multiple co-benefits. [...]
The overall purpose of the rates and affordability initiative was to build municipal/utility knowledge and support decision-making on specific aspects of utility financial sustainability and affordability. Building on past CWN initiatives and discussions, the rates and affordability initiative aimed to deliver a report that explores utility water, wastewater and stormwater rates/fees in the context of [...]
In June of 2021, the Government of Canada committed to net-zero emissions by 2050. In November 2021, almost 200 countries at COP26 committed to the Glasgow Climate Pact that contained four main goals. Water plays a central role in achieving all of them alongside “near-global net-zero” mitigation efforts. Around the same time, Canadian Water Network [...]
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 [...]
In October 2020, Canadian Water Network launched a Strategic Sharing Group for members of the Canadian Municipal Water Consortium. The purpose of this group was to provide a space to discuss advancing levels of service for municipal water, wastewater and stormwater systems. During the discussions, a wide range of topics were covered, including how municipalities [...]
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 [...]
Harmful algal blooms, fed by excess nutrients in the water, are a pressing environmental, economic and public health concern in water bodies across Canada. Government organizations on both sides of the Canada-US border are responsible for setting goals, overseeing implementation and monitoring, and evaluating outcomes of nutrient management. Decisions need to be made, and a [...]
Steadily increasing regulations and changing practices are gradually improving the quality of urban wastewater. By contrast, fewer controls or regulations deal with non-point-source discharges or effluent exceedances such as those that occur during extreme weather. With financial support from Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Water Network led a project to examine the state-of-the-knowledge on [...]
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.