NANAIMO REGION WATER PRICING WORKSHOP: Financial Accountability, Infrastructure Sustainability and Service Delivery – Connecting the dots to achieve a vision for ‘Sustainable Service Delivery’
Blending Research and Practice
Part of the rollout to stimulate a national dialogue on sustainable water management, the Nanaimo Region Water Pricing Workshop is described as the first of its kind in Canada. The workshop program is a unique blend of research and practice. The workshop will connect the dots between three initiatives:
- Action for Water, implemented by the Regional District of Nanaimo following approval in a referendum in November 2008.
- Worth Every Penny: A Primer on Conservation-Oriented Water Pricing,released in May 2010.
- Beyond the Guidebook 2010: Implementing a New Culture for Urban Watershed Protection and Restoration in British Columbia, released in June 2010.
The desired outcome for the workshop is that participating practitioners will understand why ‘conservation-oriented water pricing’ is a tool to achieve a larger end, that is: ‘sustainable service delivery’.
“Sustainable service delivery is an emerging issue in BC. Changing and/or additional demands mean the local government workload is expanding. Local governments are being challenged to maintain and/or replace existing infrastructure over time, and to ‘do more with less’.“ states Kim Stephens, Program Coordinator for the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia. He will be the workshop moderator.
Registration and Agenda:
To download a poster that is complete with pre-registration information, click on How you can register to participate in “Worth Every Penny: A Learning Lunch Workshop”
For details of the actual program, click on Draft Agenda for Nanaimo Region Water Pricing Workshop
To Learn More:
To download a 2-page synopsis that captures what the reader really needs to know, click on Water Pricing Primer – A Summary Brief
Links to Preview Series of Articles
- Worth Every Penny: Regional District of Nanaimo will host a workshop on ‘Conservation-Oriented Water Pricing’ in September 2010 – Water users are not even coming close to covering the full costs of the water services they enjoy. A solution is to begin charging individuals and businesses what water really is worth, based on the volume they use.
- Worth Every Penny: Regional District of Nanaimo releases program details for ‘Water Pricing Workshop’ on September 9th – The desired outcome for the workshop is that participating practitioners will connect the dots between three initiatives; and will understand why ‘conservation-oriented water pricing’ is a tool to achieve a larger end.
- Worth Every Penny: An Introduction to Conservation-Oriented Water Pricing and Sustainable Service Delivery – Money, it should be about how to get the most value out of every dollar spent. Too often, thinking stops after the capital investment is made. Yet everyone needs to be thinking in terms of life-cycle costs, including future recapitalization of the investment.
- Water for Life and Livelihoods on Vancouver Island: Nanaimo Region Water Pricing Workshop will connect dots that achieve a larger end – Once there is a clear understanding of a region’s water resources, where they are changing and why…then land use planning and development standards can be appropriately and effectively modified.
- Worth Every Penny: An Introduction to the Water Pricing Primer – Effective conservation-oriented water pricing can help reconcile growing communities with the health of local watersheds and engage individuals and businesses to change their behaviour and begin reducing their water footprints.
- Nanaimo Region Water Pricing Workshop will connect dots to Beyond the Guidebook 2010 – There is now clear guidance for aligning local actions with provincial and regional goals to ‘design with nature’ so that British Columbians can create greener communities, live water smart and prepare for climate change.
- The Water Pricing Primer, a collaborative effort to stimulate a national dialogue – The Primer explains how water pricing works, what the benefits are, and how water utilities can implement conservation-oriented water pricing structures as a key tool in the water manager’s toolkit. Also, it offers advice on how to address implementation challenges, including how to maintain revenue stability for water utilities.
