Archive:

“With the passing of Hugh Fraser in 2025, the Partnership recognized the need for a way to honour Lifetime Members who have died. After all, we reasoned, lifetime membership technically ends with the death of the individual. So, how do we reconcile the need and desire to continue honouring their memories? What is the appropriate way to recognize the contributions and legacies of those who have left the world of the living, we asked ourselves. It was John Finnie who suggested Gone But Not Forgotten. Simple and succinct. It resonated,” stated Ted van der Gulik.

Fiona Crofton was a life-long environmentalist. She was a leader, a teacher, a facilitator, and mentor, always pursuing her passion for a better and more sustainable world. A former professor in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of British Columbia, Fiona designed the 1st degree-credited course on sustainability globally. It was an award-winning, highly interactive, multi-discipline, web-based course in the engineering faculty but open to all students. She had developed similar courses for other universities and institutes, courses which continue to be popular and over-subscribed.

“The Partnership for Water Sustainability’s Mid-Year Report for 2025 provides an excellent understanding of our ‘philosophical’ rationale, how we function, and the collaborations and resources that make the Partnership effective. This is a baseline or landmark document,” stated Tim Pringle. The Partnership has adopted a storytelling approach to weave quotable quotes into a narrative that informs and engages readers about our mission, operational framework, ambassadors’ program and the array of initiatives that form the Partnership’s twin pillars of water sustainability.

Ron Neufeld enjoyed a nearly 30-year career serving the City of Campbell River and the former Comox-Strathcona Regional District. Starting as an engineering technician, he steadily advanced his career to retire in 2022 as Deputy City Manager. His impact on the community was far-reaching. He played a pivotal role in improving local infrastructure, championed environmental stewardship, and led the negotiations of complex municipal agreements with integrity and vision. “During the earlier days of the Partnership, he was an integral part of our networking and information dissemination process,” recalled Derek Richmond.

Shared responsibility is a foundation piece for Delta’s rain garden program. “Everyone in the process, students, designers, managers and constructors, must understand and care about the big-picture goal. This requires an ongoing educational process that instills an ethic. This is a team effort. Nothing would have happened without all working together and continuing to work together. Creating a watershed health legacy will ultimately depend on how well we are able to achieve rain water management improvements on both public and private sides of a watershed,” stated Hugh Fraser.

“Twenty years ago, we went live with the waterbucket.ca website. We profile those who do good work in the spirit of Living Water Smart. This is a big reason why waterbucket.ca has become the place where people go to look for information on water. We have the communication platform. We give the champions a voice. We are getting the stories of the Living Water Smart champions out there. This validates what they are doing. That is a public service that the Partnership is able to do because we have an independent communications platform,” stated Mike Tanner.

Rob Lawrance grew up in the Cowichan Valley where he began his stewardship journey. In his time with the City of Nanaimo, he played a key role in almost every major waterway stewardship initiative in Nanaimo and connected community stewardship passion with municipal capacity. In 2021, Rob retired from the City and moved to Blaine, Washington. Tragically, he passed away in May 2022 while participating in the cyclocross leg of the Bellingham Ski to Sea relay race.

“Kate Miller is a worthy inaugural recipient of this award. Kate connects the dots between community and regional government water stewardship collaboration. Kate also leads in inter-regional collaboration on water stewardship initiatives through her key participation on the Watershed Moments Team. Kate is an outstanding asset to her community and the community of water stewardship practice, and through collaboration and sharing of experience is growing a culture of water stewardship in the CVRD, across Vancouver Island and beyond,” stated Paul Chapman.

“Early in her career, Jody Watson realized the importance and value of local government-community relationships built upon mutual trust, respect and common purpose. In her role as Supervisor of Environmental Initiatives, Jody has emphasized collaboration and teamwork at every opportunity. Creative community partnerships are being forged to address changing circumstances. An able communicator and mentor who ‘walks her talk’, Jody is both a visionary and a pragmatist, for the vision and task are equally important, and that is what makes the difference,” stated Eric Bonham.