LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Well-maintained municipal infrastructure assets are worthless IF THEY DO NOT provide a service. Also, for any asset management approach to be successful, it must not focus on the infrastructure asset by itself,” stated Glen Brown, founding Chair of Asset Management BC
Note to Reader:
Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. The edition published on November 8, 2022 is the story behind the story of Glen Brown’s source of inspiration that led him to coin the term Sustainable Service Delivery in 2010. At the time, Glen Brown was an Executive Director in the BC provincial government.
The core document for asset management for BC local governments is Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery: A BC Framework. The title is deliberate and important because the ‘function’ and responsibility of Municipal Councils and Regional Boards is Sustainable Service Delivery. The process to support decision making is Asset Management.
STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Coining of the term ‘Sustainable Service Delivery’ in 2010
“I remember the moment so well when Glen Brown first used the term ‘sustainable service delivery’ to capture what was in his mind. It was June 2010, and I was at the offices of the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN). John Finnie and I were on a phone call with Glen. The purpose was to develop Glen’s part in the agenda for the Nanaimo Region Water Pricing Workshop in September 2010,” recalls Kim Stephens, Executive Director, Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC.
“In 2010, Glen was an Executive Director in the provincial government and Deputy Inspector of Municipalities; and John Finnie was General Manager, Regional and Community Utilities with the RDN.”
“Our conversation took place the week after Glen had given a presentation at the Leadership Forum organized by the Local Government Leadership Academy. His title was a long one: Financial Accountability, Infrastructure Sustainability, Service Delivery: Connecting the Dots with an Asset Management Approach. Nowhere in that presentation did Glen use the specific term ‘sustainable service delivery’.”
“At that time, and thanks to the early work of the then newly formed Asset Management BC, chaired by Glen Brown, local governments were just starting to wrap their minds around the ‘20/80 Rule’ – that is, the initial capital cost of municipal infrastructure is about 20% of the ultimate total cost, and the other 80% is unfunded. The 80% is described as a liability, deficit or gap.”
An easy-to-remember phrase
“During our brainstorming, Glen made repeated reference to his Leadership Forum presentation; and expressed his desire to adapt it for the purposes of our upcoming event. As we talked, John Finnie and I kept pressing Glen to elaborate on what was in his mind so that we could help him crystallize a sound-bite for use as a compelling title.”
“There was an Ah-ha Moment and the penny dropped. Glen, John and I had a collective epiphany when we realized that Glen’s headline should be What Does ‘Sustainable Service Delivery’ Mean to You? That became the title for his workshop presentation.”
“In a nutshell, what happened during that conversation was that Glen Brown synthesized three ideas – financial accountability, infrastructure sustainability, service delivery – into a single easy to remember phrase: Sustainable Service Delivery. The rest is history, as they say,” concludes Kim Stephens.
It is all about the service
A decade later, I asked Glen about his recollections of why and how Sustainable Service Delivery clicked in his mind. He answered as follows:
“My inspiration came from Guy Felio, who is one of the original gurus of asset management nationally. In his own words, and in a slide that I have seen him use in presentations since the mid-2000s, Guy Felio said, ‘It is all about the service’.”
“Basically, well-maintained municipal infrastructure assets are worthless IF THEY DO NOT provide a service. That is what resonated with me. Also, for any asset management approach to be successful, it must not focus on the infrastructure asset by itself.”
“That way-of-thinking applies to nature and the environment as well – as long as we fully understand and appreciate the value of natural services – particularly when we leverage natural services to provide traditional community services, as well as those that are provided to support a healthy environment – that is, clean air, aquatic habitat, etc.,” concluded Glen Brown.
TO LEARN MORE:
To read the complete story published on November 8th, 2022, download a PDF copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Affordable and sustainable re-investment in municipal infrastructure is essential .
DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/wcp/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/11/PWSBC_Living-Water-Smart_re-investment-in-municipal-infrastructure_2022.pdf