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The 2010 Land Awards Gala, an event hosted by the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia on November 18, provided a platform for announcing formation of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia. “Founded upon the principle of collaboration, the Partnership is an autonomous society. The Partnership provides a legal entity for further evolution and delivery of program elements developed under the umbrella of the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia, released in February 2004,” states Richard Boase.

“The strategy for leading and implementing change is called Convening for Action in British Columbia. The shared vision is that settlement change will be in balance with ecology: the right development in the right place at the right time. We can achieve this vision if development is guided by a ‘design with nature’ philosophy: start with green infrastructure and truly restore the urban fabric,” states Kim Stephens.

“Early support and sustaining financial support by champion local governments that are Water Balance Model Partners was a foundation block in a building process that culminated in formation of the Partnership as a legal entity in 2010,” reports Ted van der Gulik.

Designing with nature is efficient. It amounts to using income from natural capital rather than drawing down the resource. Convening for Action on Vancouver Island (CAVI), an initiative of the Partnership, asserts that human settlement should be in relative balance with the ecology that supports it. This condition is prerequisite for designing with nature and it supports better control of the life-cycle costs of providing infrastructure for the built environment,” stated Tim Pringle.

“The Partnership had its genesis in the Water Sustainability Committee, known to many by the acronym WSC, a technical committee of the BC Water & Waste Association. From 2003 through 2010, the Water Sustainability Committee was the hub for a partnership network operating in the local government setting. Going forward, the Partnership is now that hub,” stated Tim Pringle, Partnership President.

“I’m very impressed with how actively you are pushing Water Sustainability in BC. It’s great to see this proactive approach. I really like the ‘no nonsense, lets get this problem solved attitude’. It’s very refreshing,” stated Peter MacDonagh.

Tim Pringle is a Founding Director and the first President. He was Executive Director of the Real Estate Foundation from its founding in 1988 until 2008. In 2010, Tim Pringle was the inaugural winner of the Land Champion Award for British Columbia.

“We are now at a point where the work that that has taken place under the auspices of the BCWWA Water Sustainability Committee is making an obvious difference. Initiatives such as building of the Water Bucket website as an easily accessible site for information, the continuing development, promotion and use of the Water Balance model, and the movement that is taking place on Vancouver Island and in others regions through initiatives such as CAVI play an important part in on-going progress towards greater levels of water sustainability in BC. While still much remains to be done, this is an appropriate time to acknowledge and celebrate your accomplishments,” wrote Daisy Foster.