Coquitlam River Watershed Roundtable: “The watershed plan provides the structure needed to ensure continual improvement through an adaptive management framework,” stated Margaret Birch

Lower Coquitlam River

Building Resilience and Capacity for Inter-Jurisdictional, Watershed-Based Approaches

The Coquitlam River Watershed Roundtable has made significant advancements under its collaborative model. One highlight is the development of a unique watershed plan that recognizes important linkages between ecosystem health and human well-being, and advances ecosystem-based thinking and planning across multiple jurisdictions of the Coquitlam River watershed.

The Roundtable has now turned its attention to building the capacity and resilience necessary to see the plan through implementation and beyond – focusing on evaluating sustainable funding mechanisms, increasing peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, and the Water Sustainability Act.

A 2016 Progress Update captures highlights of the strategies for action ahead.

Healthy Ecosystems, Healthy People

“Evolving from a climate of conflict to a state of collaboration was a huge success on its own,” noted Margaret Birch, “and the benefits of a common vision and the collaborative, consensus-based approach empowered the Roundtable to begin developing a watershed plan only months after their formation in February 2011.”

“The watershed plan is multi-dimensional and it was intended to serve as a baseline and point the Roundtable in the right direction, while providing the structure needed to ensure continual improvement through an adaptive management framework.”

Lower Coquitlam River Watershed