YOU TUBE VIDEO: "The Joint Staff Workshop is intended to begin an ongoing dialogue/collaboration that will lead to healthy, resilient local natural infrastructure," stated Kris La Rose, Chair of the Comox Valley regional team
Note to Reader:
Initiated in 2012, showcased in 2014 and completed in 2015, “A Guide to Water-Wise Land Development in the Comox Valley” was the subject of a Joint Staff Workshop hosted by the Comox Valley Regional District in December 2015. The workshop commenced the formal rollout of this guidance document by the Comox Valley-CAVI Regional Team (CAVI is the acronym for ‘Convening for Action on Vancouver Island’).
The article that follows the YouTube video below features the remarks of Kris La Rose, Chair of the Comox Valley-CAVI Regional Team, when he opened the workshop. Kris is the Manager of Liquid Waste Planning, Comox Valley Regional District.
To Learn More: Click on Convening for Action in the Comox Valley to download a PDF copy of the PowerPoint presentation by Kris La Rose, and follow along as he elaborates on key messages.
An Overview of “Convening for Action in the Comox Valley”
“The reason for convening this Joint Staff Workshop is to launch the Guide to Water-Wise Land Development in the Comox Valley,” stated Kris La Rose in his opening remarks.
“The Guide is a collaboration between all four local governments, MOTI, the stewardship sector and the private sector and the team members are all here today and excited to tell you all about it, and to take the first step in developing the relationship with all of you which will be necessary to successfully implement the Guide locally.”
Through Collaboration……
“From the regional perspective, mitigation of flood risk, water conservation and restoration and protection of our streams and rivers are all key priorities. The increase in extreme weather from Climate Change that we are already seeing is only forecast to get worse, and is highlighting the need to build better resiliency into the natural systems that we all rely so heavily upon. Locally, the impacts of climate change are and will increasingly be more extreme rain events in the winter and longer drier summers – sound familiar?”
“Healthier watersheds can handle high and low rainfall better, and are therefore more resilient to the coming changes. Healthier watersheds help mitigate flooding and drought.”
“We share these objectives with our CAVI partners. Through collaboration…coordinated approach to rainwater management…ease & transparency – with a focus on reasonable requirements strategically applied to maximize benefit.”
2016 Work Plan
“Oversight and direction for participation of the four local governments in the Comox Valley-CAVI initiative is provided by the four local government CAOs at a meeting every October. The work plan for 2016 includes implementation of the Guide and the Water Balance Model Express.”
“The WaterWise webpage is being developed as a one-stop shop for all rainwater management related resources in the valley. We’ll be working towards minimal duplication, and we will do this by providing context and links to existing material.”
“The educational initiative will aim to synchronize efforts around the region towards topsoil use, water reuse, and efficient irrigation. Our first step will be to conduct an inventory and gap analysis of what is currently being done in the Valley, to see how we can best align our efforts towards the common goal.”
“In summary, the Joint Staff Workshop is intended to begin an ongoing dialogue/collaboration between local government staff, facilitated by the Comox Valley-CAVI team, to more effectively move all four local governments forward towards healthy, resilient local natural infrastructure,” concluded Kris La Rose.
