DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Dealing with Uncertainty and Managing Risk” (May 2021)
NOTE TO READER:
The umbrella for Partnership initiatives and programs is the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia. In turn, the Action Plan is nested within Living Water Smart, British Columbia’s Water Plan. Released in 2008, Living Water Smart was the provincial government’s call to action, and to this day transcends governments. In May 2021, the Partnership commenced Living Water Smart in British Columbia: The Series to facilitate knowledge-transfer. The Series comprises downloadable documents on featured topics.
Download a copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Dealing with Uncertainty and Managing Risk.
British Columbia Drought Response 2021: Restore the Balance in the Water Balance
“We ignore the past and we reinvent the wheel, time and again. Cumulatively building on experience is the exception, rather than the rule. The explanation is that players change, experience is not passed on, and lessons learned are not carried forward. Given this reality, the Partnership fills a vacuum as an “inter-generational memory bank”. At the core of the Partnership’s mission is being a connector – from past to present to future,” stated Kim Stephens, Executive Director, Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia.
“This is the context for a flashback to 2005 and the Achieving Water Balance: A Workshop on Dealing with Uncertainty and Managing Risk. The session purpose was to point the way forward to the next paradigm-shift in water supply management. Designed as a technical transfer session, it shone the spotlight on the Water OUT = Water IN way-of-thinking.”
Water OUT = Water IN
“Climate change is not a driver; rather, it is a variable,” Robert Hicks, Senior Engineer with the Metro Vancouver Regional District, stated at the 2005 workshop. “Furthermore, climate change is only one factor to consider when we talk about sustainable infrastructure and sustainable water supply. The real issues are uncertainty and risk, more specifically how we deal with the first and manage the latter.”
“A constant challenge for planning is not to prevent past events, but instead is to use past experiences to inform and create flexible strategies for the present and the future. Furthermore, this need for flexibility is not restricted to the immediate scope of the problem at hand; but must also consider the broader juggling of evolving local government priorities and service demands.”
“This leads to the challenge of assessing problems with sufficient complexity to arrive at flexible and resilient solutions, while at the same time not being overwhelmed and paralyzed by over-analysis.”
“Given the variability of the factors behind ‘Water OUT = Water IN’, this relationship always will represent a snap-shot in time as its’ inputs shift, evolve and change over time.”
To Learn More:
Download a copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Dealing with Uncertainty and Managing Risk.
Or, read this article posted on the Convening for Action community-of-interest: ACHIEVING WATER BALANCE: Drought, forest fires and floods in 2003 created a “teachable year” for change in British Columbia, got the ball rolling for the Convening for Action in British Columbia initiative, and led directly to the “Water OUT = Water IN” paradigm-shift for water supply management in a changing climate (April 2005)
To visit the homepage for the Living Water Smart Series, CLICK HERE:
