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“Drawing on the experience of two international
experts, workshops held in Vancouver and in Victoria connected the dots between why harvest rainwater and how to cost-effectively implement rainwater collection, storage, treatment and delivery systems. Delegates left the workshops with a new understanding of the similarities in the challenges we now face in BC to those that Australians, Germans, Japanese and others are beginning to overcome,” wrote Colwyn Sunderland.

“The Action Plan recognizes that numerous groups and organizations implicitly share a vision for integrated water management. Hence, over time it is envisioned that other elements will be added as momentum builds and support grows province-wide for fully integrated water sustainability policies, plans and programs – resulting in conservation and stewardship practices by BC’s enterprises, institutions and in homes,” stated Kim Stephens. “The Province’s commitment to the Action Plan speaks for itself. The Ministry of Environment has provided core funding over a multi-year period to sustain Action Plan efforts.”

“The Action Plan is comprehensive in scope and provides an umbrella for grassroots initiatives that are informing Provincial policy through shared responsibility. In 2004, in the second year of implementation, work continued at breakneck speed. Significant progress was made on each of the six key elements. The Action Plan is comprehensive in scope and provides an umbrella for grassroots initiatives that are informing Provincial policy through shared responsibility,” reported Ray Fung.

“The Kelowna conference was an important first step in focusing stakeholder attention on the decisions that need to be made now if we are to move towards sustainable water management in BC. Inter-association collaboration is an essential ingredient if collectively we are to create the province-wide momentum that will result in substantive change related to water management and use,” stated Don Degen. In the spirit of inter-association collaboration, the Water Sustainability Committee of the BCWWA provided the core content for Day Three of the 3-day conference.

“Our focus is on education as the means for shifting practice in BC to address water use as an integral part of land use. We place emphasis on practitioner education. An integral part of the process is to create a picture of what the future landscape can look like. If we agree on where we wish to be in one or two generations, then we can map out the route to get there,” states Kim Stephens. “Coordination of ‘convening for action’ events generates momentum in two ways: each event builds on the last event and paves the way for the next; and coordination ensures consistent messaging.”

“It is a way of having some fun at the start of the workshop. It loosens the group up. It gets them thinking about real things, on the ground, so that they can begin to see how use of the Water Balance Model will help them in their day jobs. We have them work in teams,” explained Richard Boase.

“The issues and consequences related to land development are universal such that rainwater management is relevant even in a region such as Kamloops where the annual rainfall is less than 300mm,” explained Kim Stephens.

“The Water Sustainability Committee of the BC Water & Waste Association is partnering with the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Land, and the Ministry of Community Services to advance the water balance way-of-thinking in the South Okanagan,” stated Kim Stephens.

“Stormwater management is a priority for the Ministry in the Okanagan because of the water quality and fisheries consequences for Okanagan Lake and tributaries when land is developed for urban purposes. Local governments now have direction so that land-use planning will be integrated with rainwater management strategies,” stated Conrad Pryce.

“The Water Sustainability Committee believes it is simply not good enough to focus only on defining the problems or debating the perspectives (the ‘so what’). Rather, the objective of the Action Plan is to challenge individuals and organizations to demonstrate how we can move from talk to action (the ‘now what’),” stated Erik Karlsen. “The desired outcome is implementation of on-the-ground changes in policies, programs, research, practitioner education and standards of practice that lead to full integration management and landscape (re)development. In an ‘integrated landscape’, water is the unifying element.”