Convening for Action in British Columbia

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Robert Hicks

    CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “Local governments need a real number based on financial value if they want to get natural assets into their management plans on a regular basis. EAP gives them that,” stated Tim Pringle, Chair of the Ecological Accounting Process (EAP)


    “The question we asked was, how do you find that number? Well, we can treat a stream as a land use because we have the Riparian Areas Protection Regulation and we have BC Assessment for land values. The rest of it is the methodology that does the right calculation. Local governments have a spatial way of looking at land use. EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, is a spatial view because the methodology is keyed to parcels which is as spatial as you can get. EAP allows local governments to explore the financial impact of land development choices,” stated Tim Pringle.

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    CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “When we showed the picture of the Riparian Forest Integrity versus Total Impervious Area relationship to the Metro Vancouver Board, they agreed that things had to change. Things will get worse if we do not change our ways,” stated Robert Hicks, career engineer-planner in local government


    “The federal and provincial representatives advocated for a new business as usual regarding downstream flooding of agricultural lands and fish habitat preservation. The priorities were hydrology and riparian forest canopy which is why we involved Rich Horner of the University of Washington in our watershed assessment and classification work in the late 1990. The research team tested a system using 19 streams that were representative of physiography and land development patterns in the region. In 1999, the majority of streams were in the FAIR and POOR categories,” stated Robert Hicks.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Land planning perspective for liability reduction along streams” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in November 2024


    “The starting point for EAP is Natural Asset Management. It lets local governments know the financial value of their streams as a Natural Commons Asset. EAP is a spatial view because the methodology is keyed to parcels which is as spatial as you can get. The EAP process allows local governments to transcend the numbers and explore the financial impact of land development choices. And it is also about solutions. Planners have a spatial way of looking at land use. So, I imagine that they would like to have a means of understanding a stream from a spatial point of view,” stated Tim Pringle.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Bend the watershed hydrology to reduce risk and liability” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in May 2024


    Robert Hicks, a career engineer-planner in local government, has an experience-based perspective on the impacts of changes to the landscape. His career achievements include co-creating the “streams and trees component” of the existing Integrated Liquid Waste and Resource Management Plan for the Metro Vancouver region. “At the time, the value of managing drainage on a watershed basis within a broad framework of land management and ecosystem planning was not yet apparent. Research on stream health at the University of Washington changed all this,” stated Robert Hicks.

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    FLASHBACK TO 2010: “Think about it – the Reference Panel has influenced the waste committee, the finance committee and the way we make decisions overall in the Metro Vancouver region. The community benefits,” stated Pam Goldsmith-Jones, former mayor of West Vancouver (2005-2011)


    When the process for updating the Metro Vancouver region’s “Integrated Liquid Waste and Resource Management Plan” commenced in 2008, Metro Vancouver Regional District staff were enthusiastic about the role of the Reference Panel. Because there was trust with staff, and the Reference Panel had the attention of the politicians, the Reference Panel could say what staff could not. There was huge positive value in that. The Reference Panel reinforced desired outcomes with its recommendations.

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    CONVENING FOR ACTION IN METRO VANCOUVER: “Without deep knowledge and an understanding of history, proposed courses of action may be ineffective or unimplementable,” stated Robert Hicks, a career engineer-planner in local government in the Metro Vancouver region


    “Superficial understandings do not get you to the solutions for complex problems. To get to that complexity, you have to know the background, you have to know the history, you must have DEEP KNOWLEDGE. We are a stage where we have stretched systems to the point where we no longer have those big margins or safety factors that we had in the past. We are bumping up against an infrastructure shortage. Systems are maxed out to the breaking point,” stated Robert Hicks.

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    ARTICLE: “Sustainable Service Delivery: Solutions to Complex Problems Require Deep Knowledge” (Asset Management BC Newsletter, Winter 2024)


    “In a system, everything is connected. That is a key message. The systems perspective is not a new idea. John Muir, known as the father of the American national parks system, was an exponent of systems thinking in the late 1800s. Housing supply, affordability, and home ownership. Health care. Crime. Sustainable and affordable funding for municipal infrastructure over generations. Water supply and food security. Agricultural land and food security. Weather extremes, creek system integrity, and risk management in the urban landscape. All are connected,” stated Kim Stephens.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Solutions to complex problems require deep knowledge” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in January 2024


    “The notion of a superficial understanding explains the challenge that I am seeing. There are post-2000 graduate engineers coming out of university who are familiar with green infrastructure ideas and concepts, but they do not know the details behind them: details that they did not have to know at university or in their previous jobs. But without the background and history, can they really appreciate the complexity of interactions in a whole-systems approach and why certain targets and approaches were selected while others were not? This is why it is so important to find a way to pass on information and deep knowledge,” stated Robert Hicks.

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    WHAT AFFORDABLE AND CLIMATE-READY HOUSING WOULD LOOK LIKE: “The challenge facing local governments is the breakdown in the transfer of knowledge. And so there is a lack of understanding of why we do the things we do, whether those things be plans, policies or regulations,” stated Robert Hicks, a career engineer-planner in local government in the Metro Vancouver region


    “Without deep knowledge and an understanding of history, proposed courses of action may be unimplementable. The loss of big picture thinking is reflected in the way larger organizations are siloed. Their focus is on immediate mandates and on managing budgets and staffing. When you talk to the right people, they do see the big picture and how everything connects. And yet, when it comes into the actual realm of application, it is so much easier for them to apply something when it is chopped up and put into silos. And in the process, they lose sight of the big picture,” stated Robert Hicks.

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    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Adapting Asset Management to Climate Realities” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in November 2021


    “For asset management, the consideration is how and when assets might be compromised in their lifecycle by climate change and certainly that new assets need to consider what climate change impacts will affect their lifecycle and levels-of-service. Framing climate change impacts this way does not clearly align the changes to asset performance. But what if the scenarios are reframed with the uncertainty being the timeframe that a threshold is reached and not the uncertainty of change for a future date?” stated Robert Hicks.

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