ARTICLE: Watershed Health, Resilient Rainwater Management, and Sustainable Service Delivery: How they are Connected

Note to Reader:

Local governments in BC are challenged with the question of how best to move forward with asset management and protection of watershed health in light of two considerations: a changing climate; and community expectations to provide higher levels-of-service at reduced levels-of-cost.

The Winter 2015 issue of the Asset Management BC Newsletter includes an article that describes how the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC is championing “asset management for sustainable service delivery”.

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Integrate Natural Systems Thinking and Adaptation to a Changing Climate into Asset Management

The Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC is facilitating an inter-regional collaboration initiative within the Georgia Basin. The initiative is connecting the cascading objectives for Watershed Health, Resilient Rainwater Management, and Sustainable Service Delivery.

Derek1_July2009_120p“The unfunded ‘infrastructure liability’ is a driver for local governments to consider longevity, focus on what happens after developers hand-off municipal infrastructure, get it right at the front-end, and prepare for the future. Climate change is part of the liability equation – adaptation has level-of-service implications for infrastructure,” states Derek Richmond, Chair of CAVI-Convening for Action on Vancouver Island, and a Partnership Director.

A guiding principle for collaboration is to leverage ‘science-based understanding’ of the relationship between land use changes and resulting stream health and financial liability consequences. A desired outcome is to influence community planning by means of an environmentally adaptive approach.

Cascading Objectives

Local governments on the east coast of Vancouver Island and in the Lower Mainland are ‘learning by doing’ to implement affordable and effective science-based practices to achieve:

  • Watershed Health: Protect and/or restore hydrologic integrity
  • Resilient Rainwater Management: Mimic the natural water balance
  • Sustainable Service Delivery: Integrate natural systems thinking and adaptation to a changing climate into asset management

Launched in 2012, the Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Education Initiative helps local government champions in each region understand what the other regions are doing, what works and what does not.

To Learn More:

To download and read the complete article, click on Watershed Health, Resilient Rainwater Management, and Sustainable Service Delivery: How they are connected?

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