“Local governments are transitioning from simply pumping and treating water to managing earth’s most precious resource. The December 2006 workshop that introduced the City to BC’s Water Sustainability Action Plan was a catalyst for that change. On a personal note, Kim Stephens has been a source of inspiration to me,” stated Emanuel Machado.
“You have to create forums for the conversations that otherwise would not happen,” he says. “You can call a meeting and have people sit around the table, but if they’ve all got their official hats on, you don’t get very far. Creating a situation where you can have a candid conversation is important. “We challenge our audiences, ‘What do we want this place to look like in 50 years?’ Because the decisions we make now about land development will ripple through time,” stated Kim Stephens.
“There is a special day-long session devoted to sustainable water management issues. Six panel sessions will address different aspects of water and provide a broad-brush picture of the innovation that is emerging in British Columbia,” announces Joanne deVries.
“The Rainwater Panel will present a series of ‘vignettes’ to showcase the experience of local governments that are BC leaders in innovation. These vignettes will be cascading in providing the audience with a picture of what ‘Sustainable Rainwater Management” looks like at three scales: watershed basin, watershed catchment and project site,” states Ted van der Gulik.
“The District of Sooke has exceeded provincial requirements for liquid waste management and created a rainwater management plan that makes protecting water quality a guiding principle in land use decisions,” states Laura Byrne. “Because our rainwater management plan is outcome-oriented, it has stayed true to Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia.”
“A number of tools, in particular the Water Balance Model, have been created to help municipalities adapt to climate change. The Okanagan Basin Water Board will be hosting a workshop to get these tools in the hands of the people that need them by bringing in the experts to answer questions and provide hands-on training,” announces Anna Warwick Sears
“In February 2012, we were pleased to draw attention to the great work of the Partnership for Water Sustainability. The Partnership connects water, land and people. It is demonstrating the effectiveness of a top-down and bottom-up approach to leading change in the local government setting,” states Pia Nagpal.
