British Columbia Partnership Reaches Out to Nova Scotia

The British Columbia-based Inter-Governmental Partnership (IGP) has taken another step towards making the Water Balance Model (WBM) available and relevant to communities across Canada. The national Water Balance Model portal has links to a WBM homepage for each province, in a layout similar to the Stewardship Canada website.

According to Kim Stephens, Project Coordinator for the Water Balance Model initiative, “An opportunity arose to meet with the Centre for Water Resource Studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. So, in March 2006, Dr. Bill Hart, Executive Director of the Centre, arranged for me to meet with a group of seven individuals representing engineering and planning. The purpose of the meeting was exploratory to see whether there might be Nova Scotia interest in partnering with British Columbia.”

Dr. Rob Jamieson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Engineering, observed that “at first glance the Water Balance Model certainly seems to provide a fit with our needs, such that we are definitely interested in continuing the conversation with British Columbia to determine how we at Dalhousie can potentially integrate the Water Balance Model in the engineering undergraduate program as a teaching tool.” This observation was echoed by Susan Guppy, Associate Professor in the School of Planning who noted that “we hope to incorporate lessons learned from the BC experience in next year's teaching.” Other professors in the Dalhousie School of Planning who also expressed enthusiasm for customizing the Water Balance Model to apply it under Nova Scotia conditions were Patricia Manuel and John Zuck.

According to Ted van der Gulik, IGP Chair, “We are pleased that our overture to Nova Scotia has been well received. We certainly hope that our initial contact with the Centre for Water Resource Studies at Dalhousie University will open the door to a broader conversation with Nova Scotia stakeholders who see the value in sharing tools and resources through an inter-provincial partnership. As a minimum, it would be great if Dalhousie becomes the third Canadian university to use the Water Balance Model in its curriculum.”

Posted March 2006