Water Storage Infrastructure Cost-benefit Assessment Approaches

Alberta’s population and economy are growing and demand for water from communities, agriculture and industry is increasing.

Alberta is working to enhance water availability and security, including but not limited to, evaluating water storage and infrastructure to help increase our water security and reduce the risks posed by floods and droughts for generations to come. Alberta’s water storage and infrastructure must meet the needs of citizens and industries, balance cultural, social, economic, environmental and technical considerations, and provide sound investments for the province.

The water storage and infrastructure plan will build on previous studies and will be informed by: - Reviewing funding and delivery approaches for water infrastructure; - Identifying long-term water storage needs; - Standardizing cost-benefit assessments for water infrastructure (the focus of this project); and - Completing technical evaluations of potential water storage and related infrastructure.

The intent of the Water Storage Infrastructure Cost-benefit Assessment Approaches project is to assess various methods and options for conducting cost-benefit assessments when evaluating potential large water storage and infrastructure projects and recommend and develop standardized approach(es) that enables comparability across multiple projects in Alberta.