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“The former Water Sustainability Committee was a broadly based roundtable of organizations that had a specific interest or mission in implementing the Water Sustainability Action Plan. The roundtable encompassed government organizations, non-government associations, the private sector and universities,” stated Ted van der Gulik. “The Partnership is helping the Province implement the Living Water Smart and Green Communities initiatives. We are doing that through shared responsibility in delivering the Water Sustainability Action Plan.”

“Founded as the Water Conservation Committee in 1992, the Committee re-branded itself as the Water Sustainability Committee (WSC) in 2002 as part of a restructuring and renewal process,” stated Mike Tanner. “The WSC has handed the baton to the Partnership for Water Sustainability, a legal entity. The Partnership is building on the foundation that is provided by the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia.”

“City Council adopted a Water Strategy that includes a vision for water that closely aligns with the Province’s Living Water Smart program,” stated Kevin Henderson. “For example, the City has recently introduced a new pricing structure to provide long term sustainability to the water utility fund.”

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. At the recent 2011 Sustainable Communities Conference, organized by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), innovators from across Canada shared their breakthrough examples of municipal sustainability in an interactive session titled Steal This Idea! “The session introduced delegates to the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia,” stated Emanuel Machado, session moderator. He credits a workshop in December 2006 as a defining moment in facilitating a paradigm-shift in Dawson Creek because “it was a catalyst and source of inspiration for changing the way water is viewed and used in the City of Dawson Creek.”

“The Partnership will continue to evolve and deliver program elements developed under the umbrella of the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia,” stated Kim Stephens, Executive Director. “Now, the Partnership provides a legal entity for building on the existing Action Plan foundation and creating a lasting legacy. The Partnership vision is that water sustainability will be achieved through implementation of green infrastructure policies and practice “

Since 2004, the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia has championed the way-of-thinking and acting embodied in the phrase ‘design with nature’. This paradigm is borrowed from the seminal book by Ian McHarg because it captures the essence of climate change adaptation. Adaptation is about responding to the changes that will inevitably occur. Adaptation is at the community level and is therefore about collaboration. His premise is simple: “that the shaping of land for human use ought to be based on an understanding of natural process.”

“watebucket.ca is the key to the communications strategy for the Water Sustainability Action Plan. The website is designed to provide the complete story on integrated land and water management – why, what, where and how,” states Mike Tanner. “Water Bucket stories establish expectations about program curricula and event outcomes. To get the word out, we work with our partners to craft email-type news releases that are complete with embedded links. We are finding that these news releases are taking on a life of their own.”

“The Water Sustainability Action Plan has allowed the Province to leverage partnerships to greatly enhance the profile and resulting impact of Living Water Smart,” states Kim Stephens. “The Action Plan partners are playing a key delivery role in two of the five Living Water Smart theme areas, namely: community planning and development; and efficiency, outreach, public awareness. In effect, the Action Plan partners are functioning as the on-the-ground Living Water Smart implementation arm with local government. This means that the Living Water Smart team can focus their work effort on legislative reform.”

“A decade ago, we made a conscious decision to follow an educational rather than prescriptive path in BC. We have established higher expectations and challenged practitioners to embrace shared responsibility. “The program goals for Living Water Smart and Green Communities constitute a ‘call to action’ on the part of local governments,” stated Glen Brown. “The Action Plan story is a good news story. It is a story of collaboration, partnerships and alignment at three levels: provincial, regional and local. Moreover, the Action Plan is adding value on the ground and supporting provincial outcomes.”

Eric Bonham has been proactive on water related issues for 40 years. He is an advocate for bringing together local government and community advocates in a new form of governance that involves decision makers in government working with visionaries in the community to create desired outcomes. He calls this ‘mission possible’.