Much of Canada’s water infrastructure has been in place for many years. Infrastructure designs and associated procurement processes are based on existing climate patterns. With the effects of a changing climate, there is recognition that these designs need to be revisited to improve resiliency, safety, and protection for Canadians. Accordingly, procurement processes must be adapted to facilitate the needs of the future. On June 22, 2017, Water Canada and nine…

British Columbia and Yukon Territory have embarked upon a new classification system for water systems that promises to strengthen the oversight of operational responsibilities, recruitment, training, and the development of System Risk Management Plans. After two years of development, the new classification system is rolling out across the province and territory, and is the first of its type in North America. The feedback has been positive and it could be expanded to other regions in…

“Economists set themselves too easy, too useless a task, if in tempestuous seasons they can only tell us, that when the storm is long past, the ocean is flat again.” With this quotation from John Maynard Keynes, Dr. Frank Ackerman, principal economist, Synapse Energy Economic Inc., began a lecture on his most recent book Worst-Case Economics: Extreme Events in Climate and Finance. At the core of his argument is that…