Convening for Action in British Columbia

DRINKING WATER & WATERSHED PROTECTION IN THE NANAIMO REGION: “We engage with volunteers in the Englishman River watershed and other watersheds across our region,” stated Julie Pisani, Regional District of Nanaimo, when she explained the region’s partnership-based water quality monitoring program in a panel session on ‘Watershed Health and You’ at the Parksville 2019 Symposium (watch on YouTube)

Note to Reader:

The Parksville 2019 Symposium has been captured in its entirety in a comprehensive set of videos that have been uploaded to the Partnership for Water Sustainability’s YouTube Channel for ease of access by those who are curious and/or interested to learn about what transpired on April 2-3-4 in Parksville, British Columbia.

On the first day of the 2-day Parksville 2019 Symposium, a 5-person team primed the audience with overview-type presentations in a panel session that set the stage for a town-hall interaction with the audience. The Englishman River was selected as the Day One panel theme because it is a great story of long-term collaboration; and with the Mid Vancouver Island Habitat Enhancement Society (MVIHES) stewardship group playing a catalyst role to facilitate restorative outcomes.

The panel included Julie Pisani, Coordinator, Drinking Water & Watershed Protection program, Regional District of Nanaimo.

Watershed Health and You

In addition to Julie Pisani (water quality), the panel comprised Peter Law (stream stewardship), Vaughan Figueira (municipal water supply), Gilles Wendling (surface water-groundwater interaction), Domenico Iannidinardo (forestry).

“In preparing for this session, I asked our panel members to focus their presentations on our local watershed, the Englishman River as the ‘test case’. The panelists were familiar with the watershed and its biophysical attributes, and had the technical expertise to provide insights into how they see the ‘whole system’ approach working, to reconnect hydrology and ecology in the Englishman watershed,” explained Peter Law, panel team leader, and President of the Mid Vancouver Island Habitat Enhancement Society.

JULIE PISANI’S TOPIC: Surface Water Quality Trend Analysis: Linking Water Quality Data Results with Land Use Factors

“Through the efforts of stewardship volunteers, the RDN’s Community Watershed Monitoring Network has successfully completed 7+ years of monitoring surface water quality. A recent study has analyzed the data region-wide, modelling land use factors and their connection to water quality results, including for the Englishman River,” explained Julie Pisani.

View Julie’s 11-minute presentation:

What Do You Wonder?

The story of Parksville 2019 is told in a magazine-style narrative titled “RE-CAP AND REFLECTIONS”.

The “re-cap and reflections” document was written for two audiences – first and foremost, for those who attended Parksville 2019 and wish to have an accessible and quotable reference document at their fingertips, so that they can share the story with others; and secondarily, for those who have heard about Parksville 2019 and are curious to learn more about the ‘story behind the story’, so that they may understand why this event represents a watershed moment for so many who were there.

About Parksville 2019

Close to 200 delegates attended this 3-day event. Parksville 2019 comprised a field day followed by a 2-day symposium. The program objectives for Parksville 2019 helped to inform and establish expectations. It was a matter of providing context and then being clear and succinct about the desired takeaways.

To provide relevance for streamkeepers, the theme for Day One was Sustainable Stream Restoration. To capture the attention of those in local government, the theme for Day Two was Restorative Land Development.