Tag:

wally wells

    CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “Knowing what we know about the past three decades, the re-set is not as simple as going from an X to a tick mark in each column of the table of cascading factors,” stated Ray Fung, a past-chair of the Green Infrastructure Partnership


    Nine cascading factors that must be in alignment to implement a course correction. At the top of the list of cascading factors is political leadership and commitment to the shared vision. Leadership boils down to a willingness to act and bring together other champions willing to provide the type of energy and organizational drive that overcomes inertia. “The current reality is that you have to build new political commitment and basically start all over again in a new crucible phase…where you coalition-build to develop a new shared vision, etc.,” stated Ray Fung.

    Read Article

    WILL 2025 BE THE YEAR OF THE RE-SET AS DECISION-MAKERS BUILD ON LESSONS FROM THE PAST? – “Deep knowledge is rapidly being lost. Organizational amnesia is the consequence, and this creates risks and liabilities for communities,” stated Kim Stephens of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in the season opener for Waterbucket eNews


    “Re-set means implement a course correction so that governments would maintain and manage engineered and natural assets as interconnected components within a system that includes the people who live there. What would success look like? At a high level, the community writ large would buy-in to the need and financial case for funding SOLUTIONS THAT ARE AFFORDABLE, EFFECTIVE AND PRAGMATIC. That is the point of departure for setting in motion changes that are for the common good,” stated Kim Stephens.

    Read Article

    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia Will 2025 be the year of the re-set?” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in January 2025


    “Like it or not we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history. And everyone here will ultimately be judged – will ultimately judge himself – on the effort he has contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which his ideals and goals have shaped that effort,” stated Robert Kennedy in 1966. Considered his greatest speech, it popularized the phrase ”may you live in interesting times”. The phrase is ironic because “interesting” times are usually times of trouble.

    Read Article

    ARTICLE: “Critical thinking is a prerequisite for meaningful data collection!” (Asset Management BC Newsletter, Summer 2024)


    “Local governments need data that is meaningful for infrastructure asset management, but quality and usefulness have emerged as issues of paramount concern. Before collecting data, make sure you ask the right questions,” states Kim Stephens. “Be clear on why data is needed. What is the desired outcome? How will you use the information or data? Will it help you make better decisions? How much and what kind of data do you actually need? Does the cost meet the test of being affordable and effective? What are the tradeoffs between risk, complexity and cost?”

    Read Article

    ARTICLE: “Context and History do Matter – Droughts, Forest Fires, Floods and Sustainable Service Delivery” (Asset Management BC Newsletter, Fall 2023)


    “If done right, I see Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery as being at the core of Risk Management to achieve informed and superior planning for land and water. It certainly helps that risk management is language that gets the attention of elected representatives. With risk management as the lens, an integrated approach would help them focus them on levels-of-service and consequences for water, land, and finances. Layered over risk management is the question of what local government will do to fulfil the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act,” stated Kim Stephens.

    Read Article

    ARTICLE: “Our reflections on sharing a mission with Wally Wells” – by Paul Chapman and Kim Stephens (Asset Management BC Newsletter, Summer 2023)


    “Our discussions lead to an expanded common vocabulary. Sustainable Service Delivery, Eco-Assets and Eco-Asset Management, the Ecological Accounting Process, Municipal Natural Asset Inventory, Riparian Deficit, and watershed stewardship are some of the words in our new common tongue. The rabid environmentalist, the cold-hearted accountant and the aloof engineer could come together and focus on a common goal – Water Balance. At a very key level, it is about our relationship with water and with each other. We design and build our communities based on our relationship to water,” stated Paul Chapman.

    Read Article

    ARTICLE: “Integrated Rainwater Management: Move to a Levels-of-Service Approach to Sustainable Service Delivery” (Asset Management BC Newsletter, January 2011)


    “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.

    Read Article

    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Embedding a Sustainable Service Delivery Culture within Local Governments (October 2022)


    “In 2013, when I made my first presentation about asset management at a CAO forum, I observed mostly blank stares. And when I engaged in conversations afterwards, I heard comments to the effect that asset management sounds interesting but that is not what we do, and we are not interested in that. A decade later, the awareness has clearly changed quite a bit. But from what I have seen, a majority of CAOs still have not bought in and are not necessarily interested. Some talk the talk but do not necessarily walk the talk,” stated David Allen

    Read Article

    EMBEDDING A SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY CULTURE WITHIN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: “Wally Wells and David Allen are motivated by their shared desire to inspire implementation of organization-wide asset management. They view this outcome as a foundational element of local government in British Columbia,” stated Kim Stephens, Executive Director, Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC


    “The news from Asset Management BC is that Wally Wells has passed the Executive Director baton to David Allen to continue the ‘sustainable service delivery’ mission. This duo will continue their collaboration for the foreseeable future as Asset Management BC builds on the foundation now in place after a decade of hard work and a team effort. With the passing of the baton from Wally to David, having a facilitated conversation provided each with a timely “moment for reflection” on where Asset Management BC has come from and where it is going,” stated Kim Stephens.

    Read Article

    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Integration of Stream Systems into Sustainable Drainage Service Delivery” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in May 2022


    The BC Framework establishes expectations; it does not prescribe solutions. It is a game-changer because it redefines the context for deciding how infrastructure is planned, financed, implemented, and maintained. “It is all about building trust between Council and staff, keeping in mind what can realistically be accomplished by an organization, and being clear about the limitations of the current state-of-practice and knowledge and our ability to explain what the numbers mean in that context,” stated David Allen.

    Read Article