Concerned about fairness and transparency, Manitoba’s Public Utilities Board is recommending that it regulate the rates charged by Winnipeg’s water and sewer utilities. Continue reading
Category Archives: Water and Wastewater
Modest growth in US water industry
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In its annual Water Partnerships Report, Public Works Financing assesses the state of the US water and wastewater services industry. The country’s six largest water and wastewater firms now operate, maintain, and/or manage 720 water facilities and 939 wastewater facilities in 1,319 municipalities. Continue reading
Pricing water to encourage conservation
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On World Water Day, Elizabeth Brubaker argues for full-cost water pricing. Full-cost prices give water users financial incentives to conserve, while maintaining their freedom to use water in the ways that are most important to them. Continue reading
Trew or False? Do trade agreements threaten our water systems?
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Council of Canadians campaigner Stuart Trew is warning that a free trade agreement between Canada and Europe would threaten Canada’s municipal water systems. The proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, he claims, would lock in bad deals with private water service providers and lock out regulatory improvements. Mr. Trew’s claims are false. Continue reading
$1.2B in Sewage Treatment Upgrades for Winnipeg
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Water Canada reports that Winnipeg needs to find $1.2 billion for upgrades to its sewage treatment facilities. The article cites Environment Probe’s criticism of Winnipeg’s agreement with Veolia Water – an agreement that guarantees no private investment in the ailing sewage facilities. Continue reading
Drummond Report calls for full-cost water pricing
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The Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services – chaired by economist Don Drummond – is calling for full-cost pricing for municipal water and wastewater services. The Commission also gives a nod to the private financing of municipal infrastructure. Continue reading
Privatizing water services
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CBC Radio’s “The Current” turns its attention to privatizing water and sewage services, engaging Environment Probe’s Elizabeth Brubaker and several others in a lively discussion about what greater private-sector involvement could mean for Canada. Continue reading
Support for public-private partnerships grows
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According to a recent poll, two-thirds of Canadians support public-private partnerships (P3s) for water treatment and sewage facilities. These numbers are up considerably from last year. Continue reading
Environmental Commissioner renews call for full-cost water pricing
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The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario is once again calling on the Ontario government to promote the full-cost pricing of water. In his Annual Report for 2010/2011, released last week, the ECO argues that water charges should be levied to promote conservation, pay for municipal infrastructure, and cover the province’s costs of managing the resource. Continue reading
Round Table recommends charging industry for water
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The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy has released Charting a Course: Sustainable Water Use by Canada’s Natural Resource Sectors. The report calls for new approaches to managing water use by the energy, mining, forest, and agriculture sectors – the country’s biggest water users. Continue reading
Save Stave Lake’s P3
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In this National Post op-ed, Elizabeth Brubaker reviews Abbotsford, B.C.’s, proposed Stave Lake water project. If it earns voters’ approval in a referendum, it will be Canada’s largest privately financed undertaking in the water sector to date. Continue reading
Using private funding and expertise to bring Canadians high quality water services — at low cost, too
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In her annual letter to supporters, Elizabeth Brubaker writes that Canada’s water is under threat. It’s threatened by the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Council of Canadians, who have teamed up to oppose private financing and operations of water systems. Their approach is wrong-headed and dangerous. Continue reading
Performance-Based Contracting
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This article in Municipal World discusses Elizabeth Brubaker’s report, A Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Alternative Financing and Delivery of Water and Wastewater Services. It focusses on performance-based contracts, which can encourage innovation and create financial incentives for water utility operators to perform well. Continue reading
Shale Gas in Canada: An Overview
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In this overview of shale gas in Canada, Manish Oza addresses basic questions about the location and volume of the resource, the environmental concerns associated with its extraction, and the regulatory regimes governing the industry. The paper is intended not to provide the last word on these issues but to help inform the still-early stages of the public policy discussion across the country. Continue reading
Procurement alliances will be key to securing water work, C.D. Howe Institute report finds
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In its third article about Elizabeth Brubaker’s report, A Bridge Over Troubled Waters, the Daily Commercial News reviews ways to control the costs of water and wastewater projects. Municipalities can tap into private management and engineering experience, negotiate financing and operating contracts with incentives to keep costs down, and reform water pricing to encourage consumers to reduce their water use and avoid the need for new infrastructure. Continue reading
The Privatization of City Services
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BNN’s “Headline” features a discussion of the privatization of city services, including water and sewage. Environment Probe’s Elizabeth Brubaker, CUPE’s Paul Moist, and Ontario Waste Management Association’s Rob Cook debate the merits of privatization. Continue reading
Technical input lacking on tenders: OSWCA
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In this article, the Daily Commercial News explores better ways of financing and carrying out water and sewage system work. It stresses the importance of full-cost pricing and competitive, results-oriented bidding processes that encourage ingenuity. The article extensively cites Elizabeth Brubaker’s report, A Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Alternative Financing and Delivery of Water and Wastewater Services. Continue reading
Poorly performing Cdn water systems endangering public health, environment
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Eric Laganis writes in EcoLog about Elizabeth Brubaker’s report, A Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Alternative Financing and Delivery of Water and Wastewater Services. He reviews the problems facing Canada’s drinking water and wastewater systems and the solutions proposed in the report. Continue reading
Saving every last drop of city’s water
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As the City of Toronto looks to plug its $774 million budget hole, it has kick-started a comprehensive service review. Writing in the Toronto Star, Elizabeth Brubaker and Benjamin Dachis propose that the service review consider the large potential savings from contracting out the water and sewage services that the city currently provides. Continue reading
A Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Alternative Financing and Delivery of Water and Wastewater Services
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In this Commentary, published by the C.D. Howe Institute, Elizabeth Brubaker writes that drinking water and sewage systems across Canada threaten public health and the environment. Municipalities lack the resources to correct utility failings. Private water and wastewater services providers are well positioned to help municipalities with needed capital and expertise. Engaged through competitive contracting and governed by performance-based contracts, private providers have incentives to find efficiencies and perform well. Continue reading
Environment Probe 