11 – LESSONS FROM THE PAST INFORM THE FUTURE IN METRO VANCOUVER: Sustainable Watershed Systems, through Asset Management
Note to Reader:
In November 2024, the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia released THE SYNOPSIS for the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver. The Chronicle is a sweeping narrative of the 30-year period from 1994 through 2024. The Chronicle is a layered package comprising four documents: the Chronicle of the Journey, Stories Within the Story, Synopsis and Executive Summary. The target audience for each layer is different.
The Synopsis is the third layer in the cascade. It is oriented to senior managers who have limited time to absorb what they need to know to make informed decisions. The Synopsis is visual and so can easily be skimmed in 20 minutes or less! This extract is from page S19.
Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Education Initiative is a Legacy Program
“The ultimate goal is to get it right in stream channels and on the land draining to them. With release and rollout of Beyond the Guidebook 2015, the Partnership launched an educational process to help local governments reframe how they look at urbanizing watersheds,” stated Kim Stephens, Synopsis author and Partnership Executive Director.
Urban watersheds as infrastructure assets
“We introduced Metro Vancouver’s Utilities Committee and many others to what was then a bold new paradigm.”
“Our outreach program branded Sustainable Watershed Systems as a big idea that would be achieved through asset management. This applies to land uses that a local government regulates.”
A provincial focus on reducing lifecycle costs
“Achieving sustainable service delivery is the primary objective of asset management,” stated Minister Peter Fassbender in March 2017 when he announced federal-provincial funding for the Sustainable Watershed Systems through Asset Management program.
“No longer is asset management only about hard engineered assets such as watermains, sewers and roads. The BC Framework encourages local governments to manage their natural assets in the same way they manage their hard engineered assets. Benefits are long term.”
To Learn More:
Download a copy of the Synopsis of the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver from 1994 through 2024. released in November 2024. The Synopsis is structured as six sections.
DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/gi/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/11/Metro-Van-Chronicle_Synopsis_DRAFT_Nov2024.pdf