No, not for the school kids, but for our municipal infrastructure. We all talk a lot about the importance of asset management, infrastructure renewal, and adequate financing, but to make ‘informed’ decisions, our leaders need reliable information. As municipal services compete for limited infrastructure funding, it is critical that we in the water/wastewater sector make our case!
This second edition of the Canadian Infrastructure Report Card was distributed November 24th to all municipal CAO’s across Canada. Each CAO is asked to call upon the appropriate staff to respond to each section of the survey. The deadline for responses is January 16th, 2015.
Led by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), this national survey has been compiled with the input and support of almost every national association involved in infrastructure in Canada...including the CWWA who represented the water/wastewater sector on the Report Card Advisory Board.
Why is it important to respond? As you all know too well, our part of the infrastructure story is seldom seen or discussed. Buried out of site or in remote parts of town, we need to shine a bright light on the realities of our aging water/wastewater systems. We need the decision-makers and the public to better appreciate the need to investment in water/wastewater infrastructure.
The first report Card, released in 2012, provided a lot of great information addressing the infrastructure deficit. But the weakness of the report was the fact of how few municipalities responded - or were able to respond. At the time of the first survey, many of us were not at a stage of asset management or even inventory data collection to be able to respond. Three years later, we expect that many more of us are now capable of proving data to this critical report. Even if you can’t answer every question, please answer as many as you can.
Be sure to follow-up with your CAO to participate in the water/wastewater sector (including storm water) and you can learn more about the Report Card and helpful training webinars at this link.
Canadian Water and Wastewater Association