Adaptive Policy Analysis of Saskatchewan’s 25-Year Water Security Plan

The report evaluates Saskatchewan's 25-Year Water Security Plan (WSP) using the ADAPTool to determine if its seven goals facilitate climate change adaptation for the mining, municipal, hydroelectricity, and agriculture sectors. The analysis finds that while the goals provide indirect support for many adaptation needs, 133 out of 198 identified adaptation actions lack direct program support. The WSP's goals scored moderately in terms of adaptive capacity, with strengths in providing information and skills, but weaknesses in supporting access to infrastructure, technology, and financial resources. A significant limitation noted is that the ADAPTool is not well-suited for prospective plans that have been designed but not yet implemented, as many of its metrics rely on actual implementation data. The report recommends incorporating explicit climate projections, formalizing multistakeholder deliberation, and developing standardized guidelines for decentralization and policy review to enhance the plan's robustness against future climate stressors such as floods and droughts.

• The ADAPTool was found to be unsuitable for evaluating plans that have been fully developed but not yet implemented, as its questions focus on actual rather than possible inclusion of adaptive elements.
• A significant gap exists between identified adaptation needs and the support provided by the 25-year water security plan, with 133 of 198 adaptation actions receiving no direct program support.
• The analyzed policies provide the strongest support for adaptive capacity in terms of access to information and skills, but fail to adequately support access to infrastructure, technology, and broad-based financial resources.
• Five of the seven goals in the water security plan are considered vulnerable to climate change impacts due to the direct relationship between climate and the hydrologic system.
• The municipal and hydroelectricity sectors are the most supported by the WSP, while the mining sector—particularly operations and closure/remediation—is the least supported.
• While the plan includes language for multistakeholder deliberation and foresight during implementation, these processes have not yet been operationalized.
• The plan's approach to decentralization is moderately effective in devolving authority to municipalities and watershed groups, but needs to further devolve resources, capacity, and accountability.
• The WSP employs a variety of policy instruments, including regulatory, economic, institutional, and expenditure policies, but lacks a robust mechanism to review which instruments are most effective.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2013). Adaptive Policy Analysis of Saskatchewan’s 25-Year Water Security Plan. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/adaptool_saskatchewan_water.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Adaptive Policy Analysis of Saskatchewan’s 25-Year Water Security Plan. 2013. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/adaptool_saskatchewan_water.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Adaptive Policy Analysis of Saskatchewan’s 25-Year Water Security Plan |date=2013 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/adaptool_saskatchewan_water.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2013adaptive, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Adaptive Policy Analysis of Saskatchewan’s 25-Year Water Security Plan}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2013}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/adaptool_saskatchewan_water.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }