Better Best Practices for Small Communities

1. Better Best Practices
for Small Communities
Trish Johnson
Lynne Maclennan
WaterTAP
Teeny Tiny Summit
OMAFRA Regional Economic Development, East Region
June 28 & 29, 2017

2. Briefly: What is WaterTAP?
Established by the Water Opportunities Act, 2010, WaterTAP
brings private sector experience and guidance to help water
industry entrepreneurs successfully commercialize products and
services and grow their businesses.
Importantly, WaterTAP also has a mandate to provide
strategic advice to the provincial government on actions it
can take to foster growth in Ontario’s water sector.
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3. Better Best Practices Initiative
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BBPI’s goal is to improve water management in
Ontario by addressing challenges to adoption faced
by innovative technology companies, solution
providers and end users.
Includes regulations, approvals, policies,
procurement, and funding mechanisms.

4. We have been listening!
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5. Better Best Practices Initiative
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Top Priorities for 2017
1. Affordability in small communities
2. Advocating for life-cycle cost consideration
3. Procurement that enables innovation
4. Streamlining regulations and modernizing approvals
5. More efficient certification and validation

6. Aiming for outcomes
• More life-cycle costing and stronger linkages
to planning and asset management
• Increased innovation in municipalities and
and First Nation communities
• More affordable small community
infrastructure
• Better management and maintenance of
distributed and decentralized systems
• More efficient permitting, approvals and
procurement
• Performance-based regulations for
stormwater and phosphorous
• More streamlined certification and validation
of new water technologies in Ontario
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7. Small community concerns
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Affordable solutions are difficult to implement
Lack of life-cycle costing and lack of focus on innovative solutions
Face planning hurdles for decentralized solutions
PPS and Official Plans often do not permit this option
Need more robust management structures
No mechanism to track long-term maintenance and inspection data
MRA process needs to be modernized
Need to facilitate long-term management capacity
Regulations are too prescriptive
Need flexibility and regulations based on outcomes

8. Top tips from the trenches
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Size matters!

9. Scope the right project
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10. Assess comparative alternatives
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Life-cycle costs are important!

11. Strong partnerships are critical
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12. We welcome more small community input
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13. Trish Johnson
Lynne Maclennan
Better Best Practices Initiative
WaterTAP
trish.johnson@WaterTAPontario.com
lynne.maclennan@WaterTAPontario.com
Please join the conversation!