How Waterloo region's water services are preparing for future climate change challenges

With Waterloo region's climate projected to be more extreme in the coming decades, officials with the region's water services are already thinking of how to adapt to future changes and challenges. 

Adapting current infrastructure and future builds to climate change takes time and a lot of planning, said Kaoru Yajima, a senior engineer with the region's water services. It's why that work has already been underway for several years.

"We've been seeing changes in the climate for some time. It's not like it just happened today or last year. It's been coming around for some time and we knew that we had to plan," he told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo.

Yajima said the region works with the Ministry of Environment and uses floodplain maps from the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) and climate data from the University of Waterloo (UW) to guide the work.

More heat and rain

Chris Fletcher, an associate professor with UW's department of geography and climate change management, said Waterloo region's weather is projected to become warmer, wetter and more extreme in the decades ahead.

Fletcher was part of a team that looked at how the region's climate would evolve in the 21st century if emissions of greenhouse gases were high, mid range or low.

"What we're looking at is climate change driven by increasing emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide," he said.

Results from those scenarios showed the number of days that public health considers to be extreme heat events could double or triple by the end of the century, Fletcher said.

"Currently we experience on average 10 days per year," he said. "What we found in the report was that if we go out to 2080's, so 50 to 70 years from now, then we're looking at the whole month or a month and a half of that hot weather."

"That's something that we really know is coming. It's almost a sure bet that it's coming," he adds.

What researchers know less about, but are starting to get a clearer picture, is how rainfall and snowfall are going to change in the future. Fletcher said their models show that with a warmer climate, more rain than snow can be expected. 

Building for future challenges

Yajima said it's those predictions that led his team to take a closer look at one of the region's water systems located on Williams Street in uptown Waterloo.

According to GRCA's flood plain map, because of its close proximity to Laurel Creek, it's prone to flooding should there be significant rainfall.

"That's a critical water supply for us and we want to make sure it runs, if not during the rainfall, at least soon afterwards," he said.

That's why they're looking at building a pumping station that is flood prone and installing sensitive equipment — like electrical or control equipment — above the floodplain. 

Yajima said they also have to make sure the region's water system can handle higher demands of water use in the future with hotter temperatures and possible dry spells ahead.

He notes many in the community are already making the effort to save water.

"I see a lot of water efficiency fixtures going into homes and people abiding by the lawn watering by-law that we have," he said.

Reducing emissions

Yajima said the region is also making an effort to reduce emissions and its carbon footprint through the wastewater plant by converting methane into electricity.

"We treat everyone's sewage and a by-product is waste residue called sludge," he said.

Methane is generated from sludge waste and rather than emitting it into the atmosphere, it's captured to create electricity that then runs the plant's wastewater systems.

Yajima said as the climate continues to change, the region will continue to look at how it can adapt its departments going forward.