DOWNLOAD: Metro Vancouver Board Aligns Regional Planning Vision with “Living Water Smart, BC’s Water Plan”
Note to Reader:
During the period 2008 through 2011, the Metro Vancouver updated its Liquid Waste Management Plan (LWMP). This regulatory document provides the framework and direction for regional sewage treatment and municipal rainwater management.
Living Water Smart in Metro Vancouver
Living Water Smart, BC’s Water Plan is a visionary document that encourages local governments to do business differently, prepare communities for change, and choose to be water smart.
When the Greater Vancouver Sewerage & Drainage District Board met in March 2009, “it approved realigning the goals, strategies and actions in the updated LWMP to keep current with senior government policies and positions, as well as ensure that Metro Vancouver’s and senior governments’ environmental and fiscal objectives and actions are mutually supportive and successful,” stated Lois Jackson, Chair.
Alignment with Provincial Initiatives
In a February 2009 report to the Metro Vancouver Waste Management Committee, Fred Nenninger (Division Manager, Policy and Planning Department) wrote that “new information and drivers suggest that further modifications to the draft LWMP wouldgreatly enhance the consultation process and better articulate the alignment of the Plan with provincial plans and direction.”
“Living Water Smart objectives supported by the LWMP include: developing an understanding of what makes streams healthy; watershed management planning in priority areas; and helping address the impacts of climate change and climatic cycles on local water resources. This is supported by the ongoing work of Metro Vancouver’s two inter-governmental LWMP committees, the Environmental Monitoring Committee and Stormwater Inter-agency Liaison Group.”
“The LWMP is a powerful regulatory tool that has the potential to truly effect change for the better on the ground,” continues Kim Stephens, Chair of the advisory Reference Panel appointed by the Metro Vancouver Board.
“While the LWMP spotlight has been on sewage treatment because of the $1.4 billion price tag, the LWMP also creates the opportunity to integrate land-use and transportation planning with municipal RAINwater / stormwater management services and green infrastructure to more effectively and affordably protect urban stream health.”
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