Canada Water Infrastructure

The Canadian Water and wastewater Association, Public Safety Canada, and Dalhousie University released a study earlier this year to assess the risks and level of preparedness to water security in Canada.

The report called Strengthening the Resilience of the Canada Water Sector was released earlier this year. The report surveys the potential physical threats to water security, including water quality, water quantity, and cyber safety. The focus is in interdependencies between the water sector and other critical infrastructure sectors in Canada (e.g., drinking, sanitation, agriculture, industry, generating hydroelectric power, cooling nuclear reactors, and recreation).

The funding of the report was sponsor by the Defense Research and Development Canada (DRDC) through the Canadian Safety and Security Program (CSSP), the study uses quantitative and qualitative research methods to review the potential risk across Canada and the state of preparedness of the water sector.

Adrian Toth, director of government relations for the CWWA who the project leader and coordinator of the project was said, “To date, no such report has been created to assess the resilience in the water sector nationwide. A unified and collaborative tool such as a National Risk Profile was needed as a catalyst to move the water sector, as a whole, forward to becoming more secure and resilient.”

The report identifies the top risk of water security based on likelihood including the severity of the risk in the flowing order. The report is a compilation of responses from water providers survey feedbacks

1) aging infrastructure,
2) severe storms,
3) loss of power,
4) contamination of source water (including reservoirs),
5) chemical release/spill, and
6) Unauthorized access to premises.

“The data collected through the National Survey of the Water Sector helped to create the National Risk Profile that can be used collaboratively by CWWA and Public Safety Canada (PSC),” said Toth.

The purpose of the report was to identify policies and practices water utilities can implement for short-and medium-term to ensure a secure and resilient water supply to Canadians.

“Water security management needs to be developed to address emerging threats. Several management approaches are currently shaping water security practices, including ecosystem-based management, integrated management, and adaptive management,” stated the report. “A variety of regulatory frameworks also influence—or, at least, are meant to influence—water security practices, including the ISO Risk Management Principles and Guidelines, the Water Security Risk Assessment Framework, and the Water Security Status Indicator Framework.”