EAP TRANSITION STRATEGY PARTNERSHIP: “If we apply EAP to land owned by the RDN to help prove that Natural Asset Management is meaningful, then I see that as the trigger to influence other owners of land to behave in a similar fashion,” stated Murray Walters, Manager of Water Services with the Regional District of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island

Note to Reader:

Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision.  The edition published on October 22, 2024 is the second installment in a 4-part series that showcases a successful precedent to pass the intergenerational baton and build long-term capacity within local government to implement Natural Asset Management.

Anna Lawrence, project coordinator for the EAP Transition Strategy Partnership is the guest editor for a conversation with Murray Walters, Manager of Water Services, about the Regional District of Nanaimo’s experience in advancing EAP.

 

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Reflections on the 3-year transition strategy for embedding EAP at Vancouver Island University – extracts from a conversation with Murray Walters about the Regional District of Nanaimo experience 

At the midway mark in the 3-year transition strategy for embedding EAP at Vancouver Island University, Anna Lawrence and Murray Walters had a conversation to take stock of the journey. A set of four questions provided a framework for reflections by Murray Walters.

Why is the Regional District of Nanaimo all-in with its 3-year commitment to the EAP Partnership? Midway through, how does Murray Walters describe his view of the journey to date?

 

THREAD ONE: Why the RDN is all-in with its commitment to the EAP Partnership

“The RDN is all-in for three reasons,” stated Murray Walters. “Obviously our Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Program is really interested in initiatives like EAP as it pertains to watershed protection. That is the first link.”

“Secondly, beyond that is how the EAP initiative relates to MABRRI and Vancouver Island University. Anytime within the context of the DWWP program that we have an opportunity to help promote moving something like this from a volunteer group into an academic world is a good thing. And doing this also supports the goals of DWWP.”

“So, not only is it what the Partnership and MABRRI are trying to do, the way you are doing it is a good fit. Then EAP can be seen and developed by a lot more people…and potentially get more profile.”

 

 

“The third reason is that we really are in the early days of trying to understand what Natural Asset Management looks like. We learned a whole bunch from the Millstone River EAP study that was a joint effort with the City of Nanaimo in 2020.”

“The EAP project opened our eyes to how much money is being spent on the Millstone system, particularly within the city and less so in the RDN reaches.”

 

A way forward is starting to crystallize

“As an organization we are moving forward with trying to identify where we have natural assets that provide…shall we say infrastructure service. That is what DWWP and the Long Range Planning folks have agreed to do through a collaborative approach.”

“We will identify a few areas where we could potentially do something on land we own, most likely in a park. We are going to try and establish what the contribution is…as an asset. Then we can connect the dots to the financial requirements for managing that asset.”

 

THREAD TWO:  Why the RDN selected French Creek as its 2nd EAP project

“The RDN has completed a natural assets inventory which identifies where we think all the natural assets are within the region. But we have not identified which of them have a definable service.”

“What we are hoping with French Creek is that we can identify some of those peripheral areas within French Creek, generate some M&M figures, and merge the inventory and asset management approaches. A measure of convergence is when you have a real number that you can use for pragmatic planning.”

 

 

“Mosaic owns it. And we cannot ask Mosaic to do this or that because their mandate is not to provide infrastructure services for the public good. Their mandate is to make money off forestry. This example illustrates some of the challenges that we face.”

Governance in an electoral area of a regional district

“Another good reason why we chose French Creek is to shine another light on some of the difficulties surrounding governance in electoral areas outside the municipal boundaries.”

 

 

“French Creek is such a mess because there are large unincorporated areas of development and private ownership in the middle and upper watershed that converge on the very densely populated Oceanside. Road drainage is a major contributor to problems that are being experienced.”

“Governance is not the primary goal of the EAP study. But when you look at what we are going to get with EAP…and consider how it fits into the ongoing governance studies that are happening in that electoral area…well, I anticipate it is going to be a really helpful piece of information.”

THREAD THREE: How the RDN will use what they have learned from French Creek

“Natural asset management is in its infancy. SO WE ARE REALLY FOCUSING ON LAND THAT WE OWN. You look at something like Hamilton Marsh and it is very visible and it is very obvious that it provides a service. But we lack the ability to influence what goes on there.”

 

 

“As an organization we need to focus on land that we own to prove the concept more than anything. Maybe there is an element of timing in there where we can identify an asset that we do own…and that will allow the natural asset inventory and asset management to come together a little bit better.”

“If we can do something on our land to prove the concept, get it accepted by our board of directors, then maybe that is the trigger to try and influence other people who also have land to behave in a similar fashion. That is the direction where I see natural asset management going.”

The DWWP function made it possible to advance EAP

“The fact that we have the DWWP function here at the RDN is what allows us to participate so wholesomely in this kind of innovative partnership with other organizations and move the whole idea of Natural Asset Management forward.”

“It is really a function of having a group of funded, enthusiastic, creative thinking people who can see where this is going in the long term. A couple of years ago, when we were doing the Millstone EAP project, it was a bit of a hobby and we were not quite sure what we were going to use it for. Well, it is four years later and we are significantly advanced from those early days.”

 

Collaboration leverages science to inform policy

“To move away from the science, data and community outreach stuff…and into policy and planning…the two groups have to work really closely together. Many of the long-range planning initiatives refer to partnerships with DWMP and moving our collaboration forward.”

 

 

“You have to de-silo. You cannot operate in silos where everyone is trying to grab more turf all the time. You need to operate in an environment where people are not afraid to go talk and tell you what they are doing and what they want to help with.”

“We cannot always help them and they cannot always help us either. But we are talking about it these days. Internal collaboration does not happen overnight. You must have initial successes to build relationships. That is what the French Creek EAP project represents. It will feed into other studies,” concludes Murray Walters.

 

y,

To Learn More:

To read the complete story, download a copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Reflections on the 3-year transition strategy for embedding EAP at Vancouver Island University – Regional District of Nanaimo experience.

DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/wcp/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/10/PWSBC_Living-Water-Smart_Murray-Walters-reflections-on-EAP-Partnership_2024.pdf