volume 1 - Halifax Regional Municipality

Halifax Water Integrated Resource Plan
Integrated Resource Planning
1. INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLANNING
The Halifax Regional Water Commission (HWRC) known as Halifax Water is a publicly
owned utility charged with providing water, wastewater and stormwater services to the
residents of Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Halifax Water embarked on the
preparation of an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) in order to define its overall program
and resource needs for the next thirty years (2013 - 2043). The IRP responds to the
combined requirements of regional growth, present and expected regulatory
compliance and asset renewal. The IRP is being prepared at the direction of the Nova
Scotia Utility and Review Board (NSUARB).
Quoting directly from the NSUARB regarding the purpose of the IRP: 10
• ‘First, the plan will provide the framework for HRWC (Halifax Regional Water
Commission) to comprehensively evaluate alternative planning scenarios for its
water, wastewater and stormwater services in an integrated fashion and identify the
most efficient means of achieving its service goals while meeting all environmental
requirements.
• Second, it will provide long-term direction for HRWC and be a platform for
comprehensively assessing alternative generic facility and programmatic investment
options.
• Third, it will serve as an umbrella under which more detailed, facility- or program
specific capital investment analyses can take place.
• Fourth, the plan will explicitly identify and plan for the management of risks facing
HRWC.
• Fifth, the plan will provide the Board with the information and context it needs to
make fully informed decisions about proposed future capital investments, revenue
requirements and rates. ‘
The detailed Terms of Reference for the IRP is presented in Volume 1 Appendix A of the
IRP report.
Figure 1.1 presents an overview of the IRP development process linked to the contents
of the Volume 1 report.
10 In The Matter Of An Application By Halifax Regional Water
Commission for Approval of a Schedule of Rates and Charges and Schedules of
Rules and Regulations for the Provision of Water, Public and Private Fire Protection,
Wastewater and Stormwater Services, (252) Nova Scotia Utilities and Review Board,
2010
Revision: 2012-10-29 Integrated Resource Plan 1
October 31 2012 Page 34 of 272