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Glen Brown

    Communities need annual budgets to tackle the Riparian Deficit along streams


    The requirement that local governments have an Asset Management Plan addresses the disconnect between land use oversight and direct responsibility for maintenance and management of stream corridor condition. “The oversight question is one that we are addressing with EAP. Local governments have real data to quantify the financial value of streams as physical assets. This metric allows them to put streams into the basket of local government asset management responsibilities,” stated Tim Pringle.

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    GEORGIA BASIN INTER-REGIONAL EDUCATION INITIATIVE, A UNIQUE MECHANISM FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT COLLABORATION: “Growing a network based on shared aspirations, and delivering results across organizational boundaries differs in every way from building an organization in any conventional sense.” – Derek Richmond, Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC


    “We knew that intuitively but it helps when a ‘neutral’ party says that. For me, the biggest takeaway from our conversation concerns the ‘what, how and who’ as the current leadership of the Partnership looks ahead to pass the baton.. Using the Ambassadors Program as the example of WHAT; – this was the breakthrough to articulate our need for succession planning and sustainability of the network. The WHO now becomes obvious as the ambassadors themselves. The HOW is now clear too, by looking back at what we were successful with in the past,” stated Derek Richmond.

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    WATER SUSTAINABILITY AND ASSET MANAGEMENT ARE INEXTRICABLY LINKED: “We design and build our communities based on our relationship to water. Our neighbourhoods arise from this relationship,” stated Paul Chapman, Chair of the Watershed Moments Symposia Series


    “Beginning in Nanaimo in 2018, the idea for what has now become the Watershed Moments Symposia Series, started as a modest idea to highlight the successes and challenges of water stewardship in the Nanaimo area. Our discussions led to an expanded common vocabulary. Sustainable Service Delivery, Eco-Assets and Eco-Asset Management, the Ecological Accounting Process, Riparian Deficit, and watershed stewardship are some of the words in our new common tongue. The rabid environmentalist, the cold-hearted accountant and the aloof engineer could come together and focus on a common goal – Water Balance,” stated Paul Chapman.

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    AFFORDABLE AND SUSTAINABLE RE-INVESTMENT IN MUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURE IS ESSENTIAL: “Too often, thinking stops after the capital investment is made. Yet everyone needs to be thinking in terms of life-cycle costs,” stated Glen Brown, Chair of Asset Management BC


    “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. While much attention and discussion focus on the Asset Management plan or plans, there is much more to the process than just the plan,” stated Glen Brown.

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    PROFILE IN COURAGE: “There is a special type of courage that Council needs to have to say, ‘give us the naked truth’. There is not a lot of political up-side to shining a light on infrastructure challenges. Oak Bay Council did that, no holds barred,” stated Christopher Paine, Director of Financial Services, when he explained the vision of Council in setting the direction for Oak Bay’s Sustainable Infrastructure Replacement Plan


    “Two things about Oak Bay are quite unique. First, I know of no other situation where an engineering department and a finance department are so much in lockstep on a unified vision for asset management. That was really spurred by Council’s culture. That is the second thing. They knew there was an issue with an aging infrastructure because the visible signs were there. They trusted staff and they started investing heavily in infrastructure funding. Anybody who is going to hear or read about the Oak Bay story, the thing that they really must understand is the role of Council,” stated Christopher Paine.

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    Creating a Culture for Urban Watershed Restoration in British Columbia


    Creating a culture for urban watershed restoration relies on knowing the oral history of an area. As the First Nations who have settled these lands for 1000s of years tell us, passing on the oral history is key to sharing a collective memory. Each generation must be receptive so that experience is passed on. “We are inching our way to bring together Western science and our own (Indigenous) science. There are different ways of how the two interact when we bring them together. The observation record for us is in the oral history,” stated Gitxsan hereditary Chief Hanamuxw (aka Don Ryan).

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    DID YOU KNOW: The function and responsibility of Municipal Councils and Regional Boards is “Sustainable Service Delivery”


    “The core document for asset management for BC local governments is ‘Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery: A BC Framework’. The title of the Framework is deliberate and important. The Framework provides the basis for the entire asset management process for our local governments to follow. Funding agencies, as part of funding applications, request communities to identify where they are within the asset management process using the framework. While much attention and discussion focus on the Asset Management plan or plans, there is much more to the process than just the plan,” stated Glen Brown.

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