Water OUT = Water IN: Penticton Workshop Launches Convening for Action initiative for ‘Achieving Water Balance’

After the Convening for Action (CFA) initiative was unveiled in February 2005 at a conference organized by the Canadian Water Resources Association, the Penticton Workshop in April 2005 was the first regional event organized under the CFA umbrella. It was titled “Demand Management Strategies – Achieving Water Balance” – A Workshop on Dealing with Uncertainty and Managing Risk.

This full-day technical transfer session connected the dots between water resource planning, climate variability and risk management; explored the tools and techniques available through demand-side management; and gave participants ‘hands-on’ planning practice to demonstrate how to achieve a water balance without relying on new sources and infrastructure.

The workshop was organized in two parts and the presentations were cascading in order to elaborate on the OUT = IN theme. In the morning session the focus was on concepts and success stories related to Building Resiliency. This provided participants with a mind-map for the afternoon session when they were asked to apply what they had learned in Creating Your Future.

“A core message is that the OUT = IN equation is variable on both sides. Something to think about is that in mathematics one cannot solve for two variables with a single equation. In other words, it is time for practitioners to go back to the basics and re-think how we approach water supply analysis and planning,” noted Robert Hicks.

To Learn More:

To download a report that describes how the workshop was structured and what was accomplished, click here.

Breakout group led by Robert Hicks