Re-Focus Integrated Stormwater Management Plans on outcomes, recommends Metro Vancouver Reference Panel

Protect Watershed Health

The Liquid Waste Management Plan approved in 2002 included a commitment by Metro Vancouver municipalities to integrate land use and drainage planning. This was the genesis for Integrated Stormwater Management Plans (ISMPs).

In its Final Report to Metro Vancouver’s Waste Management Committee, the Reference Panel recommends that municipalities re-focus ISMPs on watershed targets and outcomes so that there are clear linkages with the land use planning and development approval process.

“To do an ISMP right, one has to start with the desired outcome – which is protect or improve stream health – and then determine what actions in the watershed will green the urban landscape. The Fergus Creek plan stands out because it is based on implementing green solutions as an alternative to conventional engineered blue solutions (that require large areas of land to build expensive ponds),” stated Kim Stephens, Reference Panel Chair, in reporting out to the Committee on July 15, 2009.

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Originally posted on the Rainwater Management community-of-interest in June 2009