Convening for Action in British Columbia

DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Local Governments Need Real Numbers to Deliver Green Infrastructure Outcomes” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in March 2022

March 29, 2022 - Posted in ...2022, PUBLICATIONS & DOWNLOADS

NOTE TO READER:

Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the vision for Living Water Smart in British Columbia to build greener communities and adapt to a changing climate; and embrace “design with nature” approaches to reconnect people, land, fish, and water in altered landscapes.

The edition published on March 29, 2022 highlighted the “story behind the story” of EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process. An article published in Construction Business magazine provided context and a reason to feature EAP, a decision tool that helps communities make the financial case for maintenance and management of streams in the built environment.

Are streams worth the same as constructed assets?

Construction Business is a trade magazine which serves British Columbia and Alberta. Beginning in 2006 with a feature story on the rollout of the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia, every two years editor Cheryl Mah invites the Partnership for Water Sustainability to contribute a topical article that is relevant to her Construction Business readership. In February 2022, Construction Business published an article co-authored by the Partnership trio of Kim Stephens, Tim Pringle and Ray Fung.

Local Governments Need Real Numbers to Deliver Green Infrastructure Outcomes

This year Cheryl framed her invitation this way, “I’m interested in something on green infrastructure.” Her timing was perfect because several green infrastructure stories were already in the works for Waterbucket eNews, notably the one featuring Dr. Zbigniew Grabowski and the nation-wide document survey that revealed that the green infrastructure state-of-the-art in the United States is now close to where British Columbia was in 2005.

The story about “Dr. Z” was built around his conversation with the Partnership’s Tim Pringle, Chair of the Ecological Accounting Process (EAP) initiative. Tim Pringle was an early champion for green infrastructure in British Columbia, dating to the 1990s when the concept was in its infancy. “The impetus for developing the EAP methodology and metrics is that local governments need real numbers to deliver green infrastructure outcomes,” stated Tim Pringle.

DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/cfa/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/Stream-Corridor-Management_Jan-Feb2022_Construction-Business.pdf

Context for Measuring Progress

The Partnership uses the term “green infrastructure continuum” to frame how green infrastructure understanding and the state-of-the-art around it are building on experience and evolving over time. The continuum idea provides context for milestones on the green infrastructure journey in British Columbia. It allows us to answer the question, how well are we doing, and thus measure progress. EAP is a game-changer in an ongoing process.

Cheryl Mah’s invitation was the Partnership’s opportunity to introduce EAP to a new audience, If one reads other articles in her magazine, they always make a connection to the construction industry. Because EAP is “out of the box” for a typical reader, the editorial challenge was to make a bridge from the regular construction world to the Partnership’s watershed world.

“The message about ‘getting it right’ is a good summary of the green infrastructure goal of EAP,” stated Ray Fung, article co-author. “But it goes far beyond that thought. Not only do local governments have to make the financial case for stream restoration, they also actually now have to do it! But, the Partnership team wondered, what is the look ahead for the Construction Business reader? Is there a conclusion for the person in that sector? A challenge or an invitation to the reader of the article became a desired goal.”

TO LEARN MORE:

To read the complete story published on March 29th 2022, download a PDF copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Local Governments Need Real Numbers to Deliver Green Infrastructure Outcomes.