Archive:

2010

Water Balance Model now resides within the ‘Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia’


“Formation of the society is a pivotal milestone in the history of the WBM. Over the years, various people have asked us who owns the WBM. Now when we answer ‘the Partnership owns it’, it will be crystal clear to everyone that the Partnership is in fact a legal entity. This evolution is important to our funders becauses it increases our ability to obtain grants for ongoing enhancement of WBM capabilities,” stated Ted van der Gulik.

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“Convening for action as a provincial initiative has evolved over the last five years. By 2006, we were ready to go a bigger scale. We said let’s take on a whole region,” stated Kim Stephens, Executive Director, at the time of incorporation of the Partnership for Water Sustainability (Nov 2010)


The ‘Convening for Action’ initiative addresses water sustainability in BC and it engages practitioners whose careers, professions, employment and volunteer roles impact the land. Land and water are inextricably linked and strategies to achieve water sustainability require collaboration and a shared approach among practitioners. “It has been one conversation at a time. It is not ‘talking at’ people. It is about facilitating the conversation. Somebody has to provide an excuse to bring people together. Local government people started talking to each other and sharing,” recalls Kim Stephens.

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CHAMPION SUPPORTER: Tom Field, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (inducted in 2010)


Tom Field is the first individual to be recognized as a Champion Supporter of the Partnership for Water Sustainability. Within weeks of incorporation, he foresaw the potential and acted promptly. “I have consulted with those of the group who are still actively engaged in environmental engineering in the Lower Mainland and we have unanimously agreed that the newly incorporated Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia is an appropriate recipient of this money. Over the last year we have looked at various causes and destinations to which the money could be directed. We are therefore happy to provide the funds to the Partnership,” wrote Tom Field.

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Ted van der Gulik, Founding Member & Director


While with the Ministry of Agriculture, Ted managed and provided direction to a team of professional Engineers and Agrologists. Team members were specialists in farm structures, waste management, mechanization, environmental management, irrigation and drainage. The team was instrumental in development and delivery of agricultural programs, including: the environmental farm planning program, water supply expansion program and the current Growing Forward program.

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Mike Tanner, Founding Member & Director


During Mike’s time with BC Hydro’s Power Smart, he managed and provided direction to a team of Managers and professional staff engaged in various key marketing functions and, in delivering complex and multi-technology products and services through various programs and initiatives. Mike was an early adopter of the benefits of both energy and water conservation and, the possibilities of “Watergy”.

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Richard Boase, Founding Member & Director


For 30 years Richard Boase has practiced environmental and urban geoscience. His project work and passion during this time has involved watershed restoration, community and stakeholder engagement, environmental impacts assessment and land use planning. His focus is on environmental impact assessment and watershed restoration.

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Derek Richmond, Founding Member & Director


With a career of over four decades as a professional engineer and Chartered Water & Environmental Manager, Derek Richmond was an early pioneer in urban modelling and planning in the UK and in Canada. He has worked across a broad spectrum of water resource and infrastructure projects, issues and applications, and has applied those skills by working in both the private and public sector.

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Kim Stephens, Founding Member & Executive Director


An engineer-planner, Kim Stephens has more than four decades of experience. This covers the continuum of water resource and infrastructure engineering issues and applications, from master planning and modelling to implementation of capital projects. He specializes in public policy and professional development, and has played a leadership role in a series of initiatives in British Columbia.

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John Finnie, Founding Member


A civil and environmental engineer, John Finnie has over 40 years of water, wastewater and solid waste regulatory and utility management experience with the BC Ministry of Environment and the Regional District of Nanaimo. John received the first BCWWA Leadership in Water Sustainability Award for his accomplishments, in particular for his work in championing the Regional District of Nanaimo Drinking Water & Watershed Protection initiative.

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