Water-Centric Planning

banner

Tag:

wally wells

    TODAY’S DECISIONS – TOMORROW’S FUTURE: “During times of crisis, a few leaders always step into the spotlight with a new vision bridging conflicting worldviews. Michael Blackstock is one of these visionaries,” stated Glen Brown, Chair of Asset Management BC, when he announced the keynote speaker for the AMBC annual conference in November 2024


    “During times of crisis, a few leaders always step into the spotlight with a new vision bridging conflicting worldviews. Michael Blackstock is one of these visionaries,” stated Glen Brown. “As an Independent Indigenous Scholar and founder of the Blue Ecology™ theory, Michael Blackstock offers a unique First Nations perspective on the climate crisis, inserting water into the difficult debates about carbon emissions. His ability to mediate grew out of a uniquely diverse background as a writer, a thought leader, and Forester. He has written over two dozen peer reviewed papers.”

    Read Article

    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Nature and natural assets are now part of the mix for local government asset management. This represents a huge shift in thinking because we have always treated nature as an externality in our economic system,” stated David Allen, Asset Management BC (October 2022)


    “The old way of thinking comes to mind when we look at what the Public Sector Accounting Board has in mind when it talks about including natural assets in PSAB 3150.. My suggestion is practical and straightforward. Just do what the Town of Gibsons did in 2014. They included an accountant’s note in the Financial Statement that refers to natural assets. That is all you need. An auditor’s note is an appropriate form of recognition and can be accompanied by reference to a separate report specific to natural assets,” stated David Allen

    Read Article

    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Avoid the Pain, Be Deliberate, Fund the Plan: Waiting for municipal infrastructure to fail means that you are forced into one path. And this is probably the most expensive path. Do not wait until things go wrong,” stated Dan Horan, Director of Engineering & Public Works, District of Oak Bay


    “One of the biggest challenges is to create awareness and understanding of why communities need to take sustainable service delivery seriously. A key message is that the level of service to the community can be so much better when asset management is done properly. Another key message is that you do not have to tackle every challenge at once. Dealing with life-cycle realities is such a challenging area of engineering and utility asset management to think about. Many other fields of engineering have already been through multiple life cycles of the asset. They have already felt the pain of not doing it right,” stated Dan Horan.

    Read Article

    LIVING WATER SMART IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “The Asset Management ‘plan’ addresses life cycle assets related to the service they provide and the basis for replacement or upgrade over time. The risk and consequences of not taking action are substantially higher and more consequential than for Master Plans for water, sewerage and drainage,” stated Wally Wells, Executive Director of Asset Management BC


    “Asset Management is an awkward term. We have managed assets for decades and understand what that is and what we are doing. Suddenly we took two very simple words, reversed them, and went from managing assets to asset management. The result? We confused everyone. Too much attention is given to only the Asset Management Plan as opposed to all elements of the process. Even then, should we be calling the outcome the ‘Asset Management Plan’? But we do need to be careful in how we communicate what we do and what the expectations are with the results,” stated Wally Wells.

    Read Article