From Stormwater Management to RAINwater Management: Implementing a Course Correction in Metro Vancouver
Note to Readers:
In October 2010, the Okanagan Basin Water Board and the BC Water and Waste Association co-hosted a 2-day workshop titled ‘From Rain to Resource: Stormwater Management in a Changing Climate‘. The purpose of Day 2 was to integrate the perspectives of the people working on the ground and those developing and adopting policy.
A presentation on the Metro Vancouver policy framework for integration of liquid waste and resource management, and how it is influencing a ‘course correction’, was delivered by Kim A. Stephens, Chair of the Metro Vancouver Reference Panel. This advisory group reports directly to the regional politicians on sewage treatment and rainwater management.
Reference Panel Chair elaborates on Policy Framework embraced by Metro Vancouver Regional Board
“The culmination of several thousand hours of volunteer time and effort, the Reference Panel’s report is succinct. At its heart is A Recommended Policy Framework for Liquid Resource Management in Metro Vancouver…(it) comprises five theme areas,” reports 
Kim Stephens.
“Under the Built Environment theme, the panel recommended that Metro Vancouver municipalities re-focus Integrated RAINwater/Stormwater Management Plans (ISMPs) on watershed targets and outcomes,” states Kim Stephens.
This recommendation flowed from concerns of municipalities over the ‘unintended consequences’ resulting from ISMPs completed to date in the region.
Links to YouTube Videos
To view a 4½-minute video clip of Kim Stephens elaborating on the need to meet the test of affordability and multiple objectives, click on Why a Course Correction — “The elephant in the room is…. the unfunded liabilities from doing plans where people are not thinking about what the outcome is…”
To view a 1½-minute video clip of Kim Stephens summarizing why the Reference Panel process was successful, click on From Awareness to Action — “Good things happen when community visionaries link up with local government decision makers. If you are in alignment, if you share the vision, you can make things happen.”
To Learn More:
To read the complete story posted on the From Rain to Resource ‘homepage’, click on From Stormwater Management to RAINwater Management: Implementing a Course Correction in Metro Vancouver
To download the PowertPoint presentation delivered by Kim Stephens, click on Implementing a Course Correction (2.3MB PDF)
