Beyond the Guidebook 2015: Capital Region's Jody Watson reflects on "Creating a new ‘Land Ethic’ through Integrated Watershed Management"
Note to Reader:
Released in November 2015, Beyond the Guidebook 2015 is the third in a series that builds on Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia. It is a deliverable flowing from the Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Educational Initiative. Local government case study experience provides guidance for a collaborative approach that would achieve cascading objectives for Watershed Health, Resilient Rainwater Management and Sustainable Service Delivery (scroll down to image at bottom of page).
Convening for Action in the Capital Region of Vancouver Island
Structured in four parts, ‘Beyond the Guidebook 2015’ is a progress report on how local governments on the east coast of Vancouver Island and in the Lower Mainland are ‘learning by doing’ to implement affordable and effective science-based practices.
Part D tells five regional stories, including that for the Capital region. At the conclusion, Jody Watson provided her reflections by writing an op-end on what is being achieved through the region’s Integrated Watershed Management process. She is the Harbours & Watersheds Coordinator with the Capital Regional District. She is also the Chair of the Bowker Creek Initiative.
Creating a New Land Ethic
“Our collective ‘baseline’ or memory of what a healthy creek should look like has shifted significantly. Within the urban environs, this baseline had shifted even more through generations of development and decades of engineering practices designed to get the water off the land as quickly as possible. This approach to land development has resulted in a loss of hydrological and ecological function in many areas,” wrote Jody Watson.
“I remain hopeful that by gathering together change-makers from First Nations, local governments and our communities to work towards a collective vision for healthy watersheds that we will emerge with a strong new land ethic here in the Capital Region. And over time, we will shift the baseline of a healthy creek closer to one which I held as a young girl.”
To Learn More:
To download a copy of Beyond the Guidebook 2015, click on this link: https://waterbucket.ca/viw/files/2015/11/Beyond-Guidebook-2015_final_Nov.pdf
To download a copy of the complete op-ed by Jody Watson, click on Creating a new ‘Land Ethic’ through IWM
