The natural asset opportunity

This interview with MNAI was just published in Municipal Water Leader.

Asset management is a familiar concept for most local governments and water utility providers, but when they hear the term, almost everyone thinks about wastewater treatment plants, buried pipeline, and pump stations. The Municipal Natural Assets Initiative (MNAI), a Canadian nonprofit, is aiming to change that. MNAI’s core insight is that natural assets like wetlands, forests, and creeks provide tangible services for municipalities that are similar to those provided by engineered assets like retention ponds and culverts. By inventorying, analyzing, and maintaining their natural assets, local governments and utilities can make intelligent decisions about whether or not to build engineered assets and the wisdom of development that will interfere with these natural assets. 

In this interview, MNAI Executive Director Roy Brooke speaks with Municipal Water Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill about the concepts behind natural asset management and the results that communities have seen from putting it in practice.