ASSET MANAGEMENT BC NEWSLETTER (June 2017) – Embed ‘state of art’ hydrology in engineering ‘standard practice’ to achieve Sustainable Watershed Systems
Note to Reader:
Published in the Summer 2017 issue of the Asset Management BC Newsletter, the article by Kim Stephens is a progress report on implementation of the Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Education Initiative (IREI).
Driving Change
The IREI is aligned with the vision for Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery: A Framework for BC. The IREI is about how to implement “Sustainable Watershed Systems, through Asset Management”.
“The BC Framework sets a strategic direction that refocuses business processes on outcomes that reduce life-cycle costs and risks. The program goals for the Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Education Initiative (IREI) are aligned with this strategic direction,” stated 
the Hon. Peter Fassbender when he announced (in March 2017) funding for the IREI program through 2018.
“Successful implementation province wide of Sustainable Watershed Systems, through Asset Management, would represent an evolution in how infrastructure is planned, financed, implemented and maintained in British Columbia.”
IREI Implementation
A goal of the IREI program is to embed state-of-the-art hydrology in engineering ‘standard practice’. Three categories of IREI deliverables are inter-connected and therefore mutually reinforcing:
- Ecological Accounting Protocol
- Water Balance Methodology / Model / Express
- Professional Development & Outreach
“The current focus of the IREI program is to build local government capacity so that local governments can transition to Step Three on the Asset Management Continuum (refer to i
mage below). The paradigm-shift is that watersheds are managed as ‘infrastructure assets’ that provide ‘water balance services’,” states Kim Stephens, Executive Director, Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia.
“We would define success as follows: there would be a consistent understanding of WHY and HOW to apply science (evidence)-based methodologies and tools.”
To Learn More:
Download SUSTAINABLE WATERSHED SYSTEMS, THROUGH ASSET MANAGEMENT: Embed ‘state-of-art’ hydrology in engineering ‘standard practice’ to read the complete article as published in the Summer 2017 issue of the Asset Management BC Newsletter.
