volume 1 - Halifax Regional Municipality

Statement Concerning Halifax Water IRP – Tellus Institute Team
and to establish clear priorities among them. Based on the information currently available, we
suggest the following activities should be to priorities:
1) implementation of the recently completed Asset Management Assessment Program
roadmap;
2) refinement and implementation of the I/I Reduction Pilot Program and overall Wet
Weather System Planning; and
3) an Institutional Capacity Assessment to identify the additional internal personnel and
other resources HW requires to effectively oversee the implementation of these and the
other proposed endeavors. Note that this activity has not been explicitly identified by
HW in the initial IRP.
To preserve options and ensure that major programmatic expenditures are consistent with a more
comprehensive and more fully integrated IRP, actions taken over the next three years should
reflect a “no regrets” standard or address unavoidable needs. “No regrets” initiatives are those
that are appropriate regardless of the outcome of the additional studies to be undertaken.
Unavoidable needs are programs and projects that are firm regulatory requirements or those that
address system safety or integrity. In particular, over this period vigorous implementation of the
Asset Management Assessment Program and the I/I Pilot Reduction Program will begin to fill
the most critical data gaps, provide the detailed information required for implementation of an
optimal asset renewal program, and inform a more comprehensive and robust IRP.
We suggest the “no regrets” and unavoidable needs approach governs what happens until such
time as the IRP is updated to reflect the outcomes of the priority studies. We recognize that this
is a necessary but not sufficient basis for UARB decision-making on initiatives that entail
expenditures before the IRP is updated, as the Board appropriately takes other factors into
consideration as well.
The Action Plan we propose should include a schedule for HW’s timely and thorough reporting
on progress. Based on our involvement in the IRP process to date and the extensive planning
needs summarized above, it will be important for the Board to track Halifax Water’s efforts
closely as it begins to implement the activities identified. To ensure progress on the priority
planning efforts, we suggest continuation of the collaboration and consultation process that has
served well in developing this initial IRP.
October 31 2012 Page 272 of 272
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