How We Operate

By transferring water and wastewater assets to AFNWA, we will have the right to operate and maintain water and wastewater systems on behalf of communities. We will then have exclusive access to the infrastructure, reducing the communities’ liability while also protecting public health and surrounding environment from degrading.

Transferring assets requires a reciprocal provision by AFNWA to assume all liabilities from participants in respect to the operation and provision of water and wastewater services from the date of transfer with an ongoing indemnity to protect communities from liability. The transfer of assets and responsibility results in our participating communities not having any further personal liability for the ownership and operation of water and wastewater assets from the date of transfer. More information on the topic of asset transfer is available in the Boardapproved Transfer Implementation Plan.

AFNWA will develop communitybased Water Safety Plans (WSPs) and Sanitation Safety Plans (SSPs) for operations. A WSP and SSP is a proactive method for riskmanagement in water supply and wastewater systems and has been conducted successfully in over 90 countries. This approach ensures focus on prioritizing risk with control through mitigation procedures of identification and management of operational hazards.

Identifying and prioritizing required investments in our participating communities is a top priority for the AFNWA as operations commence. To reach this level, we are developing an Asset Management Plan (AMP) that includes a tenyear capital plan, wastewater environmental risk assessments, GUDI assessment of groundwater wells, infrastructure condition assessments, and an operational survey to check valves on water mains, fire hydrants, and manholes. The AMP will support using overseeing community infrastructure by identifying an agreedupon level of service to member communities and project prioritization.

For AFNWA, an AMP uses a systembased approach where all assets are identified, technical and financial plans for each asset are created, and recommendations are provided to ensure the most effective solution is implemented to provide a required level of service. Identifying the condition of these water and wastewater assets and prioritizing funding to correct deficiencies will be central to achieving regulatory compliance and keeping the systems in a state of good repair. Dillon Consulting Ltd. was hired to develop Asset Management Plans for Atlantic First Nations Water Authority.