Partnership for Water Sustainability’s Kim Stephens explained purpose of “Sustainable Watershed Systems, through Asset Management” to local government elected representatives at 2015 UBCM Annual Convention
Note to Reader:
In September 2015, the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) held its second bi-annual session on on “Tools, Resources & Funding for Local Governments” at the annual UBCM Convention. The Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC was one of 21 provincial organizations invited to participate and inform local government elected representatives about what they do. Kim Stephens, Partnership Executive Director, used the opportunity to explain how the Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Education Initiative will facilitate Sustainable Watershed Systems, through Asset Management.
New Paradigm: Watershed Systems as Infrastructure Assets
“A watershed is an integrated system, is infrastructure, and must be viewed as an asset that provides municipal services. Watershed systems thinking covers the continuum from water supply to drainage, and encompasses human and/or ecosystem needs,” states Kim Stephens.
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Where a local government regulates land use, a watershed is an integral part of the drainage infrastructure assets of the local government. More specifically, the three pathways (surface, interflow, groundwater) by which rainfall reaches streams are infrastructure assets. They provide ‘water balance services’. As such, protection and maintenance of the three pathways has financial, level-of-service and life-cycle implications for asset management.”
BC Framework for Asset Management Enables Local Government Action
“Released in December 2014, Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery: A Framework for BC makes the link between local government services, the infrastructure that supports the delivery of those services, and watershed health.”
“The BC Framework focusses on desired outcomes. It does not prescribe specific solutions. It is aligned with the asset management requirements for the Province’s capital grants program. This is the financial incentive for integration of watershed systems thinking into asset management,” concludes Kim Stephens.
To Learn More:
To read the complete story, click on Feast AND Famine: Moving Towards “Sustainable Watershed Systems, through Asset Management” to download a copy of a comprehensive article published in the Fall 2015 issue of the Asset Management BC Newsletter.
To download a copy of the handout given to elected representatives, click on Sustainable Watershed Systems, through Asset Management.
To download a copy of the BC Framework, click on Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery: A BC Framework (Short Version)
2015 UBCM Annual Convention – “Tools, Resources and Funding”