“While its primary purpose is to provide province-wide guidelines, Develop with Care also provides information on ways that environmental protection and stewardship can benefit the community, the property owner and the developer, as well as the natural environment,” stated Marlene Caskey.
The University of British Columbia is leading a national initiative that is intended to create a network of experts that collaborate and share their experiences. Richard Boase of the District of North Vancouver made a defining presentation titled 'New Directions in Urban Watershed Health'. “A key message is that we were doing better 50 years ago when we did not even think about the need for rainwater capture,” he observed.
“We are using the slogan The New Business As Usual to convey the message that, for change to really occur, practices that until now have been viewed as the exception must become the norm moving forward. We have to build regulatory models and develop models of practice and expertise,” stated Dale Wall, Deputy Minister.
The Guidebook’s premise that land development and watershed protection can be compatible represented a radical shift in thinking in 2002. “Through implementation of ‘green infrastructure’ policies and practices, the desired outcome in going Beyond the Guidebook is to apply what we have learned at the site scale over the past five years…so that we can truly protect and/or restore stream health in urban watersheds”, states Paul Ham,
A team led by Dr. Hans Schreier of the University of British Columbia (UBC) kicked off a national ‘knowledge translation strategy’ for rainwater management when it convened a pre-conference workshop, conference and field tour in June 2007 in Vancouver. From a British Columbia perspective, the event design had a distinct Water Balance Model flavour.
Beyond the Guidebook – cover (360 pixels)
IGP & GIP, June 2007
“Beyond the Guidebook” is an initiative that builds on the foundation provided by “Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia”. This inter-governmental initiative advances a runoff-based approach and tool – the ‘Water Balance Model powered by QUALHYMO' – to help local governments achieve desired urban stream health and environmental protection outcomes at a watershed scale.
“Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia, was a pioneer application in North America of ‘adaptive management’ in a rainwater management setting. In the Guidebook, adaptive management means: We change direction when the science leads us to a better way,” stated Kim Stephens. “The goal of adaptive management is to learn from experience and constantly improve land development and rainwater management practices over time.”
Tree canopy interception accounts for storing precipitation temporary in the canopy and releasing it slowly to the ground and back to the atmosphere. This interception may account for up to 35% of gross annual precipitation. According to Dr. Dan Moore, the project purpose is to provide planners, developers and municipal engineers with the tools and research they need to approach rainwater management in a more integrated and sustainable manner. The project results are showcased on a website that will be maintained by UBC. The website provides a complete inventory of the 60 tree canopy climate stations installed across Vancouver’s North Shore.
Rainwater management is a major focus of redevelopment in the historic part of City of Racine, Wisconsin. The project planners are looking at a snow-melt system, water-permeable pavement and rain gardens. .
Because regulatory agencies are actively pursuing the implementation of 'impact neutral' infrastructure projects and urban development, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia has undertaken a province-wide program of seminars on rainwater management.
