Water-Centric Planning

Companies around the world have been working for decades to manage their own water use and wastewater discharge. Now, as freshwater becomes increasingly scarce, and amid mounting competition between communities, industries, agriculture and ecosystems for finite resources, there is growing awareness that “to manage water globally, you need to know the water situation locally”.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) officially launched its Global Water Tool during World Water Week in Stockholm on 15 August 2007. It's a free and easy-to-use tool for companies and organizations to map their water use and assess risks relative to their global operations and supply chains.

The American Water Resources Association (Washington State Branch) and the Canadian Water Resources Association (B.C. Branch) are co-hosting a 2-day conference in Seattle, Washington on October 4-5, 2007.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department video “Texas The State of Springs” explores some tough controversies by letting both sides have their say. So who won? Watch and find out.

“Towards a Vision and Strategy for Water Management in Canada” is a synthesis of five workshops held across Canada in 2006, which included almost 70 presentations and involved hundreds of participants from a wide cross section of sectors and regions, providing a comprehensive snapshot of the needs and opportunities that exist in terms of water management in Canada.

CAVI – Convening for Action on Vancouver Island – is led by a team that represents both the private and government sectors. This regional initiative is supported by the Water Sustainability Committee of the BCWWA, the Green Infrastructure Partnership, the Real Estate Foundation of BC, and two provincial Ministries – namely Environment and Community Services. CAVI will ultimately comprise an array of program elements that celebrate and advance on-the-ground examples of green infrastructure innovation and ‘designing with nature'.

Nature's Revenue Streams is a 3-year public-private pilot project, based in Saanich BC, that will link rainwater infrastructure to the restoration of stream and watershed function. The project will show how urban development can be used as an opportunity to improve watershed and stream health, build/restore aquatic habitat and reduce infrastructure costs for developers and the municipality while also addressing rainwater runoff.

How does a community weigh the benefits and liabilities of change driven by demand for land use? What will determine long-term wellbeing for a community or region? In a nutshell, ‘wellbeing' is about sustainability of what communities allow or prevent happening on the land. Wellbeing is about balancing settlement activity and ecology!

Within the next 10 to 15 years it is projected that the available water in the Okanagan Basin will be fully allocated. At the same time, agricultural development is also expected to increase, with potential growth in the grape and wine sector leading the way. Also, the region will continue to experience both the benefits and consequences of climate change – that is, a longer growing season and changes in form and pattern of precipitation and runoff, respectively.

As an adjunct to the Gaining Ground Summit Conference, the organizations that comprise the Convening for Action on Vancouver Island (CAVI) partnership are holding a consultation workshop for local government on June 3, 2007. The workshop is an action item arising from an earlier consultation workshop held in conjunction with the Water in the City Conference in September 2006.