RC104 JanFeb2023 - Magazine - Page 30
Climate change is not a new issue for municipalities to cope with. But what is new is the increased frequency and
severity of weather-related events. The Partners for Climate Protection program is a national network of municipalities
learning how to flight climate change and reduce GHG emissions.
futures. Maximizing the lifespan and utility
of infrastructure requires making the right
purchasing and maintenance decisions, and
AM systems that incorporate good data—including climate-related information—make
that decision-making process more straightforward and transparent. “In the past, decisions have been made about infrastructure
and facilities because a long-time employee
said so, or a resident insists that the water
pressure on his road is bad, says Hoffman.
“Having a solid asset management program
in place gives us the ability to make data-driven decisions, so when someone challenges us on why, we have that information.”
Getting started
That doesn’t mean the path is easy, though.
There are several barriers to overcome to
build climate-proactive asset management
systems into the municipal day-to-day. One
of these, of course, is the power of habit: it
can be hard to overcome the inertia of established processes and to change the behaviour
of staff and management accustomed to
doing things a certain way, even if they’re on
board in theory. Another is simply knowing
where to start. The future effects of climate
change are simultaneously predictable and
uncertain and pose myriad new threats to
municipal infrastructure. It can be challenging to know the risks and how they should
affect approaches to asset management. In
addition, public awareness and political
support are crucial, and can’t be taken for
granted. It’s important to explain how systemic improvements to asset management
can save the community money and lower
risks in the long term.
30 RENEW CANADA — JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023
One method to smooth the transition is by
having an asset management champion in
place who can lead the charge. In Quispamsis, this is Losier, who completed an asset
management course from NAMS Canada
that he subsequently had two staff members
take as well, with financial assistance from
MAMP “You establish yourself as someone
who understands the purpose of the asset
management plan,” he says of the unofficial
role. “You must be that point of contact for
the policymakers and the operational people.
You keep people moving—that goes a long
way.” Hoffman agrees, and adds: “Anytime
someone starts anything, it’s easy to fall back
to how we were doing it before. The champion helps us keep people focusing on what’s
important.”
For municipalities who want to act, the
process starts with building a foundation of
policies and documented practices. Establishing a cross-functional team is key, as is
training them on risks and actions. And it’s
important to be continually communicating
and establishing means for formal communication on risk-based asset management decisions. With all of this in place, not only will
communities better understand the future
conditions that will affect asset performance
and municipal services, but they will understand how climate change poses new threats
to infrastructure and services, and better
adapt their operations and investments to
anticipate and limit negative effects.
For municipalities just starting with asset
management, Hoffman points out that
getting buy-in from the local council needs
to be a priority. “It’s a long process,” he says.
“The day-to-day results don’t look like they
add up to a lot sometimes, but when you
step back and look at two months’ worth of
work, there’s progress made. If you’re just
starting out, having that buy-in at the upper
level is critical.” Getting involved in training
programs in your region and communicating
with neighbouring municipalities is a huge
benefit, he adds: “Being able to talk to people
and find out where they’ve stumbled and
where they’ve had their successes, it’s been
a benefit for the morale of our asset management program.”
Integrating climate-informed asset
management is a journey, not a destination,
notes Losier. “It’s ongoing. It doesn’t stop.
Don’t think it’s a one and done.” He adds
that every action and decision is a chance for
education and to relate the process back to
asset management. “Anything you do, say
that it’s covered under the asset management
plan or it’s part of our long-term budget.
Any decisions you make, link it back to your
document and your plan.” In fact, Losier was
pleasantly surprised by how little push-back
he and his team have received as they’ve
gone through the asset management process.
“If you take the time to set policies and have
it on paper and explain it, it makes it a heck
of a lot easier to go through,” he says.
That’s important, because the changing
climate poses new risks to infrastructure,
and municipalities need to be ready. The new
reality will affect how assets perform in different operating conditions, presenting new
hazards, and demanding that municipalities
reduce their emissions from operations. This
calls for changes in the data municipalities
collect, the way they process it, and the decisions they make based on their understanding of the future operating environment.
Innisfail, for example, is looking at ways to
mitigate the effects of major rain events on
their sewer infrastructure — a goal that has
buy-in for several reasons. “It’s directly climate related, we’re paying extra, we’re using
extra electricity. It hits a lot of boxes,” says
Hoffman. “It’s dollar driven, which is easy to
present to council.”
From an asset management point of view,
Hoffman notes, “Climate change is going to
affect everything.” That’s going to require
not just updated asset management plans,
but also a renewed focus on collaboration
among municipalities across the country,
with support from organizations like FCM
and provincial and territorial municipal
associations. “We’re leaning on other municipalities for some of the things we’re doing,”
he says. “And if we can get out ahead of the
curve and others can depend on us, we’re
more than happy and excited to do so.”
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