Climate change could cost municipalities $700M more a year to maintain pipes, sewers, report says

CBC.ca
Dec. 14, 2022

Extreme rainfall caused by climate change could cost municipalities in Ontario an additional $700 million a year to maintain stormwater and wastewater infrastructure, the province's financial watchdog warns.

In a new report released on Tuesday, the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) says severe weather will cost municipalities millions more in the coming decades if local governments do not spend the money now to keep aging infrastructure in a state of good repair.

"When you don't adapt your infrastructure, then you leave it vulnerable to things like overland flooding, as a result of the infrastructure not being able to get the water out of there," Peter Weltman, the province's financial accountability officer, said on Tuesday.

Extreme rainfall is becoming more frequent, and overloaded infrastructure raises the risk of flooding, the FAO warns. The report says infrastructure like stormwater pipes, ditches, culverts, sewer pipes and sewer mains will need expensive upgrades.

The FAO estimates it costs an average of $3 billion a year to maintain stormwater and wastewater infrastructure if the climate is stable. It says the costs of maintaining the infrastructure will increase by $6.2 billion by 2030 given extreme rainfall.

Weltman said people will really see the impacts of climate change around 2050 if countries cannot bring emissions down.

Province not doing enough to prevent urban flooding, Ontario auditor general finds
Ontario's stormwater and wastewater infrastructure, owned by municipalities, is currently valued at $124 billion.

Adapting public infrastructure to prepare for climate change means more upfront spending, but will ultimately be cheaper for municipalities because they would avoid climate-related costs and accelerated deterioration, according to Edward Crummey, FAO's director of economics and fiscal analysis.

In a news release, the FAO said: "As extreme rainfall increases, unadapted assets will increasingly face capacity constraints, raising the flood risk to surrounding areas. While outside the scope of this report, the costs of flooding damages for households and businesses are likely to be substantial.

"However, public storm and wastewater infrastructure assets can be adapted, either by increasing their capacity or incorporating source control measures (such as green infrastructure). This would help avoid higher climate-related operations and maintenance costs, and reduce flood risk in surrounding areas."

According to the report, in a scenario where global emissions peak by mid-century, the average yearly cost of maintaining public storm and wastewater infrastructure will go up by $1.1 billion per year, totalling $88 billion over the century, if the infrastructure is not altered.

In a scenario where global emissions continue rising throughout the century, these costs would  increase by $1.8 billion per year, totalling $145 billion by 2100.

Province needs 'meaningful action,' Green leader says
Mike Schreiner, leader of the Green Party of Ontario, said in a statement on Tuesday that the Ontario government is refusing to act on climate change and that inaction is setting the province up for financial disaster.

"The Ford government's abject failure to take meaningful action to address or adapt to the climate crisis is already costing billions and will impose a huge financial burden on people today and for future generations," Schreiner said.

The Ontario Greens are calling on the government, among other things, to "create a dedicated adaptation fund to make Ontario's public infrastructure climate ready."

Interim NDP Leader Peter Tabuns said in a statement on Tuesday that the report should be a "wake-up call" to the Doug Ford government.

"This report makes clear that climate change will dramatically increase our province's infrastructure and maintenance costs, and that the cost of the government doing nothing will be immense," the statement reads.

"Only by taking immediate, proactive action to adapt our infrastructure will we reduce the long-term costs that will fall on Ontarians to pay," Tabuns said.

Ontario spending $25M in 'proactive investments'
However, Daniel Strauss, spokesperson for Ontario Environment Minister Dave Piccini, said the province is working to ensure that provincial stormwater and wastewater infrastructure is ready to deal with the risk of extreme rainfall.

"While municipalities have a significant responsibility in reducing urban flood risk through local planning, building, operating and funding their stormwater infrastructure, we have taken further action to help improve our province's water infrastructure," Strauss said.

Toronto launches $3B project to improve water quality in Lake Ontario and city's waterways
"This includes proactive investments of $25 million to build, upgrade and rehabilitate storm and wastewater infrastructure. Ontario is also developing a Low Impact Development Stormwater Management Guidance Manual which will help municipalities, developers, property owners, and others to protect the environment, reduce and prepare for flood risk."

According to the report, "flooding events" have already caused major property damage in Toronto.

In 2013, flash flooding in the city caused $940 million in damages, while in 2018, a thunderstorm caused more than $80 million in insured damages.