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The focus of the Lulu plant tour was on the pilot nutrient recovery technology developed by Dr. Don Mavinic of the University of British Columbia. “To demonstrate the potential for sustainable wastewater treatment solutions, researchers at UBC have developed the technology to capture phosphorus and ammonia from high concentration streams of municipal sewage, and recycle them into environmentally safe fertilizer,” stated Dr. Don Mavinic.

By aligning Metro Vancouver's Liquid Waste (Resource) Plan with the Province's Living Water Smart initiative, this opens the door to encouraging ‘green choices’ will ripple through time and will be cumulative in creating liveable communities and protecting stream health. “This will ensure that Metro Vancouver’s and senior governments’ environmental and fiscal objectives and actions are mutually supportive and successful,” stated Lois Jackson, Chair.

The neighbourhood plan for the northeast area of the South Campus is for a sustainable community. “These projects provided the Reference Panel with insights regarding what can be achieved by implementing water-centric green infrastructure at three scales: site, street and neighbourhood,” stated UBC’s David Grigg.

“It is the view of the Metro Vancouver Reference Panel that the effective implementation of the Canada-wide Strategy not only creates an obligation on the part of the senior governments to step up to the plate and fulfill their social and environmental responsibilities, it also creates an obligation to support communities that believe it is imperative to improve sewage treatment as soon as possible,” stated Christianne Wilhelmson.

“Embracing a guiding framework will help ensure a flexible and adaptable approach to regional sewage treatment that strives for continuous improvement over time,” stated Simon Poole.

“The desired outcome can be achieved by managing sewage and rainwater as resources, not waste. The Liquid Waste Management Plan is a powerful regulatory tool because it enables Metro Vancouver municipalities to integrate community design with desired outcomes at a regional scale and individual actions at a site scale,” stated Susan Rutherford.

The Metro Vancouver Board appointed the Liquid Waste Management Reference Panel to provide input on the discussion documents and on the subsequent Draft Plan. The Reference Panel is independent and reports directly to the region's elected representatives. “The panel is comprised of community members who bring a variety of perspectives to liquid waste issues, including technical experts, liquid waste management specialists, business representatives and citizens with an interest in liquid waste topics,” explained Marvin Hunt.

“In general, we believe that the plans that are being produced reflect a cookie-cutter approach. The ISMP process has for the most part resulted in drainage planning that applies traditional design criteria and then adds in environmental requirements. This Old Business As Usual approach has the result of increasing unfunded budget items/liabilities without resulting in a benefit,” stated Kim Stephens.

“There is a window of opportunity to do business differently because we know from experience that the old ways do not work. Changing the language is part of the process of advancing change,” stated Christianne Wilhelmson.

“REAC is a key group in terms of representing the municipal perspective in plan development. It was therefore important that the Reference Panel initiate a dialogue with REAC and build trust. So we met with REAC to explain the Reference Panel process, with emphasis on what we reported to the Waste Management Committee in July 2008,” stated Kim Stephens.