Founding members of BCWWA Water Sustainability Committee re-group under new Partnership’s Champions Advisory Committee
The Partnership for Water Sustainability
Incorporated in November 2010, the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia is an autonomous society that metamorphosed from the Water Sustainability Committee of the BC Water & Waste Association.
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The vision of the Partnership is that water sustainability will be achieved through implementation of green infrastructure policies and practices. The Partnership mission is to facilitate change. This includes helping the Province implement Living Water Smart, British Columbia’s Water Plan and the Green Communities Initiative,” states Tim Pringle, President.
“The Partnership is a legal entity. This opens the door to new opportunities to build on the foundation provided by the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia. Because the Partnership is the hub for a ‘convening for action’ network in the local government setting, we are positioned to faciltiate alignment of regional and local actions with provincial goals.”
Champions Advisory Committee
“The Water Sustainability Committee (WSC) has had several incarnations 
since the original committee was formed in 1992. In 2003, the committee renewed itself as a roundtable of volunteers representing govenment and non-government organizations, each with a specific interest or mission in implementing the Water Sustainability Action Plan,” recalls Kim Stephens. He was a founding member in 1992 and is a Past-Chair. Since 2003, he has been responsible for delivering the Action Plan program. He is now Executive Director of the Partnership.
“Membership in the WSC was based on feeding back Action Plan outcomes into member organizations. When individuals were invited to join the WSC, it was because there was ‘a job to be done’. Invitations were restricted to individuals who would provide energy and commitment to implement the Action Plan.”
“Given this history, it was a logical progression to celebrate the WSC genesis by inviting the founding members of the WSC to immediately become the Partnership’s Champions Advisory Committee. This is a new committee. As an initial task, the committee will create a vision for the Partnership that takes the Water Sustainability Action Plan to the next level of evolution.”
“In mid-2011, a separate Water Sustainability Roundtable will be established by the Partnership. The Champions Advisory Committee will also be tasked with developing the Terms of Reference for the Roundtable.”
Future of the BCWWA Committee
With the founding members of the WSC regrouping as a ‘committee of the Partnership’, BCWWA will reconstitute the Water Sustainability Committee, according to Daisy Foster, BCWWA Chief Executive Officer.
“The primary focus of the WSC in the near term will be on water conservation and drafting of issue analysis papers on topics such as The Need for Comprehensive Water Management Plans for all Watersheds in BC and Protection of Stream Health,” she stated.
Celebration of WSC History
“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 all 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 when expressing her best wishes for continued success to those who are continuing the mission as part of the new society.