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“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.

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.

Through collaboration, the four Comox Valley local governments are striving for a coordinated approach to watershed-based rainwater management in the Comox Valley and across boundaries. There is region-wide commitment to develop Watershed Blueprints. Kevin Lagan’s leadership helped make this possible. Kevin played an important role in building credibility in the local government setting for the CAVI, Convening for Action on Vancouver Island, initiative. This credibility was a critical consideration in the decision to incorporate the Partnership as a not-for-profit society in November 2010. The City of Courtenay is a charter member.

“The Lifetime Members category recognizes the contributions of key individuals who have played a pivotal role in the genesis and/or evolution of the Partnership. The Directors created the Lifetime Membership category to achieve two outcomes. First, we believe this is a material way to recognize the valued contributions of those who have been involved in developing and/or delivering program elements. Secondly, this provides those key individuals with formal standing in their retirement so that they can continue to identify with the Partnership,” stated Tim Pringle.

“The Champion Supporters category of membership in the Partnership is our way of formally recognizing agencies and organizations that provide the Partnership  with substantial financial and/or in-kind support. Their support is vitally important because that is what enables the Partnership to develop tools and deliver programs under the umbrella of Convening for Action in British Columbia. Their demonstrated commitment to achieving a shared vision for water sustainability allows the Partnership to carry out our mission,” states Kim Stephens,

“I had a real incentive to come to the Cowichan Valley Regional District in 2014 because water was the primary focus. The region was in the midst of a watershed governance study. It was looking at how the CVRD could take a more active role in watershed governance. The Board Chair and I did tours of First Nations communities and met with their chiefs and councils around the intent of this initiative and what would their interest be. We realized that this was bigger than we could take on at that time. Instead, we turned our attention to the Drinking Water & Watershed Protection (DWWP) model for a regional service,” stated Brian Carruthers.

“On behalf of Council, thank you to the Partnership for the Champion Supporter recognition honouring the great work done by City of Kelowna staff in supporting you! I am blessed with the best municipal staff in the country and this is another example of that,” stated Mayor Colin Basran. Most recently, the City of Kelowna stepped up to be in the first cohort of local government partners to operationalize the BC Landscape Water Calculator in three regions (Okanagan, Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island).

The City of Abbotsford was a founding member of the original inter-governmental Water Balance Model Partnership that morphed into the Partnership, a legal entity. Beginning in 2002, a succession of City staff has supported and/or contributed to the work of the Partnership. Most recently, the City of Abbotsford stepped up to be in the first cohort of local government partners to operationalize the BC Landscape Water Calculator in three regions. “The City is honoured that the Partnership for Water Sustainability has awarded the City Champion Supporter recognition. This reflects well on City staff who are doing good work,” stated Mayor Henry Braun.