Stormwater Magazine – Nov/Dec 2011 issue – cover (475p)
The article by Kim Stephens and Jim Dumont is a thoughtful review of the divergent goals of rainwater management in the US and Canada written from a British Columbia perspective.
Commentary on Effective Rainwater Mgmt – April. 2008 (360p)
Local governments in British Columbia have extensive and very specific tools available to them to implement rainwater management solutions. They also have the discretion to use them or not. Decisions about a local government’s appropriate level of involvement in rainwater and stream corridor management must therefore be guided by a set of clear, broadly agreed-upon objectives, as well as an understanding of the need for balance with other competing objectives and interests.
The volume-based approach that is being implemented in British Columbia picks up the baton that Dr. Ray Linsley (started more than a generation ago. As a professor of Civil Engineering at Stanford University, and later as a consulting engineer, Linsley pioneered the development of continuous hydrologic simulation as the foundation for water balance management.
Chilliwack Manual, May 2002 (360 pixels)
City of Chilliwack
The City of Chilliwack’s Policy and Design Criteria Manual for Surface Water Management serves two purposes. It provides a comprehensive framework that will guide the development of individual Master Drainage Plans over a multi-year period; and it provides land developers with specific direction in undertaking the stormwater component of sustainable urban design.
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.
A consortium of agencies in the Greater Vancouver Region have collaborated to adapt design standards from areas of Europe and North America with similar climatic and soil conditions. The project has reduced information barriers that stand in the way of effective implementation of rainwater source controls in the Georgia Basin region of British Columbia.Key features of the research information have been displayed in a set of poster presentations that can be downloaded.
Integated rainwater management planning is an approach that recognizes the complex relationship between the built and natural environment. This new planning approach integrates rainwater management with engineering, planning and the environment to reflect the values of each watershed and community.
Australian WSUD Handbook
John Argue
“Water-sensitive Urban Design” (WSUD) is a term used in Australia to describe sustainable water cycle management in the urban landscape. To assist practitioners in designing rainwater source control measures, A Handbook for Australian Practice was published in 2005. The Handbook is a compilation of proven approaches that are aimed at solving everyday problems of small-scale rainwater management.
Rain Garden
GVRD
To complement the Water Balance Model, the Stormwater Inter-Agency Group (SILG) – a technical committee of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) – commissioned a research project to create “Stormwater Source Controls Design Guidelines 2005”. This work is based on the adaptation of design standards from areas of Europe and North America with similar climatic and soil conditions. The objective of this project is to reduce information barriers that stand in the way of effective implementation of rainwater source controls in the Georgia Basin region of British Columbia.
Integrated Strategy
KAS
Founded on British Columbia case study experience, and published by the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection in 2002, Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia formalized a science-based understanding to set performance targets for reducing rainwater runoff volumes and rates. These targets represent the synthesis of biological and hydrological understanding. The Guidebook is structured to meet the information needs of different audiences.
