Sustainable Service Delivery: View the Watershed through an Asset Management Lens

 

Note to Reader:

In October 2013, Asset Management BC and the Local Government Management Association of BC co-hosted a workshop in Richmond.  A panel of three Chief Administrative Officers representing local governments from three geographic regions spoke to this topic: Sustainable Service Delivery.  Emanuel Machado provided a pragmatic perspective on the long-term benefits of viewing watersheds through an “asset management lens” and “designing with nature” in order to both reduce a community’s infrastructure liability and save money over time.

2011_Sustainable Service Delivery_Glen-Brown-summary

Asset Management – How the Pieces Fit Together….from a Local Government Chief Administrative Officer Perspective

“The Town of Gibsons has recognized, formally and in practice, that nature, and the ecosystems services that it provides, are a fundamental and integral part of the Town’s infrastructure system. Gibsons is one of the first communities in North America to do so,” stated Emanuel Machado, Chief Administrative Officer, and a member of the CAO Panel.

Emanuel Machado_2013-120p“The policy change occurred with the adoption of the 2013/14 Strategic Plan. This hybrid document combines a sustainability framework with a more traditional strategic plan.”

“Natural assets are considered cheaper to operate; can last indefinitely, if properly managed; and are carbon neutral, and in some cases can be carbon positive.”

“Ultimately, the goal is to move from simply maintaining infrastructure to a service delivery model, where those services are delivered by the smallest number, the most natural, most energy energy-efficient, and the most reliable municipal assets, that cost the least to operate over the long term,” concludes Emanuel Machado.

To Learn More:

Click on Provincial Funding in British Columbia Linked to Viewing Watersheds through a “Sustainable Service Delivery” Lens to about the provincial context for the Town of Gibsons “design with nature” approach to asset management.

To download a copy of the Town’s Strategic Plan, click here.

Town-of-Gibsons_Strategic-Plan for 2013-2014_cover

 

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