Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment of the Town of Prescott's Wastewater Collection System

The Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability Committee (PIEVC) led by Engineers Canada and the Ministry of Natural Resources oversees the execution of a national assessment of the vulnerability of Canadian public infrastructure to climate change. The PIEVC Protocol was applied to conduct a vulnerability assessment of the Town of Prescott's wastewater system. The objective of this study was to identify areas of the system which are at an increased risk of failure and/or damage due to potential climate change. Climate models were used to predict the probability of climate events in the future. The interaction between climate events and infrastructure failure was evaluated to define risk scores. The highest risks identified included those related to precipitation resulting in sewer overflows, basement flooding and bypasses to the St. Lawrence River. The recommendations of this study included the development of a sewer system optimization study to reduce inflow and infiltration within the system.