volume 1 - Halifax Regional Municipality

Halifax Water Integrated Resource Plan
Integrated Resource Plan Drivers and Objectives
quite uncertain at present and represent a significant risk for Halifax Water. Nonetheless, it
is expected that within the 30-year lifetime of the IRP, future regulation will require systemwide
overflow control likely with consideration of the nature of the receiving water body.
The incorporation of Enhanced Overflow Control Program into the IRP along with the
recommended development of the Wet Weather System Plan, the I/I pilot program among
other planned activities mitigates this future risk.
Stormwater
Halifax Water owns and operates only a portion of the storm drainage system. Joint
responsibility for managing storm drainage also lies with the Province, HRM and
individual property owners. At present, there is no clear regulatory driver nor has
Halifax Water needed a LOS. Future stormwater regulation is however expected to
consider stormwater quality. The timing and nature of future requirements are quite
uncertain and may represent a risk to Halifax Water. At the same time, climate change
will increasingly impact storm drainage systems and will require adaptation strategies.
This also represents a significant risk to Halifax Water in the design and operation of its
drainage facilities. It is for this reason that the IRP has recommended two scoping
studies addressing the likely direction of future stormwater regulation and a climate
change assessment examining the impact of future climate modifications of storm
drainage as well as the wastewater and water systems.
4.5.2 Asset Renewal Challenges, Opportunities and Risks
Halifax Water currently has over $ 6.6 billion in assets under management in three asset
systems – water, wastewater and stormwater. The review of asset renewal
expenditures based on the Five-Year Capital Plan indicated that the current program is
underfunded. (See Volume 3 Appendix E) The recently completed review of asset
management indicated a number of programmatic challenges including a lack of basic
asset data and information systems (See AMA Report).
Two major uncertainties were associated with the asset renewal assessment. The lack of
asset condition data meant that a surrogate approach using industry standard asset service
life had to be employed to determine the intensity of renewal efforts. The approach was the
best available but did not consider the actual condition of existing assets or provide the
means based on Halifax data to forecast the actual service life of various assets. In turn this
introduced uncertainty and risk into the asset renewal analysis.
The lack of meaningful industry benchmarks also presented challenges. Benchmark data
are available largely for linear assets. There is scarcity of any data regarding accepted
renewal rates for point assets such as pumping stations and treatment facilities. More
critically, asset renewal in North America and parts of Europe has been underfunded
resulting in misleading benchmark data based on potentially unsustainable levels.
Accordingly, the IRP undertook the development of an Enhanced Asset Renewal
Program beyond that presented in the Five-Year Capital Plan. The program was based
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