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“Asset management usually commences after something is built. The challenge is to think about what asset management entails BEFORE the asset is built,” stated Stan Westby, the first chair of the Asset Management BC community-of-interest. Level-of-Service is the integrator for everything that local governments do. Thus, a guiding principle could be framed this way: Establish the level-of-service that is sustainable to protect watershed health, and then work backwards to determine how to achieve that level of protection and level of drainage service.

“The legislative authority for integration of land use planning and asset management, including financial management, already exists. Local governments can develop a truly integrated Asset Management Strategy that views the watershed though an environmental lens,” states Glen Brown. “Start with effective green infrastructure and protect environmental values. Get the watershed vision right. Then create a blueprint to implement green infrastructure.”

The purpose of the Primer is to provide engineers and non-engineers with a common understanding of how a science-based approach to rainwater management has evolved since the mid-1990s. “Pioneer research yielded guiding principles; these are standing the test of time. Evaluation of, and analyses using, the entire rainfall and stream discharge spectrum allows us to see new connections to stream health and to begin the process of creating effective mitigation strategies,” reports Kim Stephens.

From the stream health perspective, appropriate and effective green infrastructure is a way to increase the level-of-service. Expressed another way, green infrastructure that restores the rainfall absorption capacity of the watershed landscape will increase the level of ecological protection. “For storm sewer systems, the process of establishing an acceptable ‘Level-of-Service’ will require local governments to review, examine, and justify the existing standards and how to transition into the future where costs must be balanced against public needs and expectations,” states Jim Dumont.

The report provides a consolidated reference source to guide those about to embark upon an ISMP process. It is a compendium: front-end plus all five documents in the ‘ISMP Course Correction Series’. “The genesis for ISMPs was a desire to integrate the community, engineering, planning and environmental perspectives. The implicit goal was to build and/or rebuild communities in balance with ecology. Local governments knew they had to do business differently to protect or restore watershed health,” states Robert Hicks.

“We spent the last half a century trying to control runoff with dikes, storm sewers, curbs and gutters. Now, increased development and increased storm intensity from climate change are increasing peak flows and altering the rules of the game. We can’t engineer away our problems fast enough, and have to look at other, lower impact solutions. This workshop was held to highlight the importance of rainwater management to climate change adaptation and to showcase examples from other areas that could be applied to the Okanagan,” states Anna Warwick Sears.

Comox Valley local governments are aligning efforts, building leadership capacity and striving for consistency. “We have moved beyond continuing education solely for the purpose of professional development. We are exploring what implementation of regional policy means on the ground,” states Glenn Westendorp. “All those involved in land development have a role to play in achieving Sustainable Service Delivery. The players include land use and infrastructure professionals.”

“CAVI participation at the 2010 VIEA Summit was both timely and rewarding in that a promising partnership was formed with VIEA. This partnership provides an opportunity to develop an integrated approach to sustainability on Vancouver Island based upon a balanced understanding of the relationship between the economy and the environment. We must look outside our boundaries and work with our neighbouring communities for the betterment of all. Vancouver Island could be a test case to show the world how we can collaborate,” states Eric Bonham.

“The arts are an effective way to engage the broader community. Community celebration events draw people out and bring them together. Our experience is that the community events are the forums for engagement. People eagerly embrace the opportunities for engagement and education. They really want to share their thoughts and experiences. Residents have a stake in restoring watershed health. There is so much experience that we can mine. We who live in the watershed are the experts,” stated Soren Henrich.

“The financial burden and environmental impacts associated with ‘pipe-and-convey’ drainage infrastructure contrast with the benefits of ‘green’ infrastructure at a watershed scale: natural landscape-based assets reduce runoff volumes, have lower life-cycle costs, decrease stresses applied to creeks, and enhance urban liveability,” write Ray Fung and co-authors. “Local governments can protect watershed health by means of a ‘design with nature’ approach. This uses more natural features and functions, rather than hard man-made systems, to ‘green’ infrastructure practices.”