WC148 MayJune 2026 - Magazine - Page 12
DRINKING WATER
Putting Up
Guardrails
E昀昀ective governance of drinking
water requires direct responsibility,
accountability, and oversight
BY NICOLA CRAWHALL
N ALBERTA AND ONTARIO, a major review and
legislation respectively are fueling calls for sweeping
reform of water governance. The final report by the
Bearspaw South Feedermain Independent Review
Panel (the Panel) and Ontario’s Water and Wastewater
Public Corporations Act both call for shifting the governance of water and wastewater services from municipal
departments to separate service corporations.
My experience participating in the Walkerton Inquiry,
which examined the deaths of seven people caused by
contaminated drinking water, and my involvement in
implementing its recommendations has shaped my views
about how to deliver water safely.
It is worth questioning whether changing a utility’s
governance structure is, in itself, a solution. In my opinion, structural reform must be accompanied by critical
guardrails, namely direct responsibility, accountability,
and oversight.
Guardrail 1: Direct responsibility
“Management of the Water Utility became fragmented across
multiple teams, with no single owner responsible for end-to
end outcomes.” — Bearspaw South Feedermain Independent Review Panel: Final Report (page 20)
The Panel found that the City of Calgary’s distributed organizational structure, with different aspects of
responsibility for water services spread out over nine
departments, left no single designated senior official with
authority to make decisions related to the integrity of
Getty Images
I
Nicola Crawhall is the CEO of
Canadian Water Network.
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WATER C AN ADA • M AY/JUNE 2026
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
