WC131 JulyAugust 2023 - Magazine - Page 26
GROUNDWATER
Prioritizing
Natural Assets
Guelph’s push to inventory
its groundwater
BY SCOTT COUSINS, JEFF WILSON, AND MARGOT URSIC
C
Margot Ursic
Margot Ursic is a planning
ecologist, facilitator, and Principal
of Grounded Solutions Services
Jeff Wilson
Jeff Wilson is a senior economist
and principal of Green Analytics.
Scott Cousins
Scott Cousins is a hydrogeologist
with the City of Guelph.
26
ANADIAN MUNICIPALITIES have been using an
asset management approach for built assets, such as
roads and sewers, to plan for the short- and long-term
work and investment required to ensure these infrastructure assets continue to provide the required services
for decades. Over the past few years, the idea of incorporating
natural assets into this framework has started to emerge.
In Ontario, this shift is largely being driven by two
factors: Ontario Regulation 588/17 which, among other
things, requires consideration and accounting of both grey
infrastructure and green infrastructure (including natural
assets);1 and the growing recognition that investing in, and
accounting for, natural assets can significantly reduce the
costs of upgrading and/or replacing grey infrastructure, while
also providing many other services and co-benefits that help
communities mitigate and adapt to climate change (e.g.,
cooling, carbon sequestration, etc.).
There are currently almost 100 municipalities across Canada
that have completed natural asset inventories which typically
focus on forests, wetlands, and meadows (and in some cases
lakes and ponds); but not groundwater.
The protection and enhancement of natural heritage systems, which include a diversity of natural assets, is known to
contribute significantly to the protection and maintenance of
groundwater. The City of Guelph’s policies and plans “recognize
the linkages between natural heritage features and areas, surface
water, and groundwater features” and aim to protect both the
above and below ground natural assets for the long term (Official Plan policy 3.16). These policies are implemented by taking
an “environment first” approach to planning, and by making
strategic investments monitoring and managing the assets.
WATER C AN ADA • JULY/AUGUS T 2023