CONVENING FOR ACTION AT THE 2024 BC LAND SUMMIT: “There are many different parts to EAP. With each part comes a pathway with capacity to help local governments,” stated Anna Lawrence, Project Coordinator, Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute at Vancouver Island University
Note to Reader:
Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. The edition published on April 16, 2024 features Tim Pringle, Anna Lawrence, and Sam Gerrand who personify the passing of the intergenerational baton.
They tell the story of Year One of the 3-year transition strategy to embed EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, at Vancouver Island University. EAP is a financial tool that fills a gap. It provides a measure of the Riparian Deficit which is a consequence of urbanization.
Local government Asset Management Plans need real financial values in order to include budgets for streams
At the BC Land Summit on May 9 in Nanaimo, Tim Pringle will tag-team with Anna Lawrence and Sam Gerrand to tell the story of Year One of the 3-year transition strategy to embed EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, at Vancouver Island University (VIU). For a session overview, CLICK HERE.
EAP is a financial tool to help streams survive because it yields realistic and defensible financial values — based on parcel data from BC Assessment — on how much to invest in stream M&M (which is the acronym for maintenance and management).
Because local government Asset Management Plans need real financial values, EAP fills a gap. It allows local governments to establish affordable annual budgets for stream M&M. This moves the budget-setting process beyond rhetoric and into “the realm of the substantive”.
Convening for action at the BC Land Summit:
Going beyond doing just enough
Human settlement degrades stream systems. A series of reports by the Ombudsperson link weak oversight of riparian areas regulation to continuing degradation.
Meanwhile, the pressure on governments to pave the way for housing is seemingly relentless. So, how do communities find a balance between these competing realities? What are the RISKS and COSTS when we fail to get it right with our land development and drainage policies and practices?
In a world of competing priorities when governments must make hard choices on what and how much to fund, what are the affordable and effective measures that might drive changes in policies and practices to achieve a balanced outcome?
How will we course correct to find the balance that achieves a desired outcome such as: create liveable communities and protect stream health? The vision for the EAP Partnership is to continuously train the next generations of local government staffs and build capacity to get the job done.
Embracing the intergenerational baton:
EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE / CONTEXT FOR BUSY READER
“In the 1990s, research by Richard Horner and Chris May at the University of Washington shook the foundations of traditional engineering practice and provided us with a science-based framework for understanding what stream system integrity means. We had our starting point for the goal of balancing use and conversation of land,” stated Kim Stephens, Waterbucket eNews Editor and Partnership Executive Director.
“With publication of Beyond the Guidebook 2015, Tim Pringle and I framed water balance accounting and ecological accounting as the Twin Pillars of Stream System Integrity for a whole-system approach to assessing changes in hydrology and the riparian deficit, respectively. This launched the EAP journey!”
“Under Tim Pringle’s direction, we completed 9 case studies in collaboration with 13 local government partners in 5 regions of southwest BC.”
“We also built a relationship with the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Research Institute (MABRRI) at Vancouver Island University and involved students in the data analysis and GIS work. In fact, we relied on students.”
“With release of the EAP Synthesis Report in 2022, the timing was right to embed our EAP knowledge at MABRRI, launch the EAP Partnership, and begin training next generations of local government staff to tackle the Riparian Deficit. Multi-year commitments by local governments to build capacity and co-funding by UBCM make this possible,” concluded Kim Stephens.
Why we need EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process, to tackle the “Riparian Deficit”
“A measure of the consequence of human settlement is the Riparian Deficit,” explains Tim Pringle, Chair of the Ecological Accounting Process (EAP) initiative.
“The Riparian Deficit applies to the regulated setback which is the interface between land and a stream. It is the natural systems equivalent of the well-known Infrastructure Deficit for engineered systems.”
“EAP is a land use perspective. EAP provides local governments with the real numbers they need to deliver outcomes: What is the number for the line item in a local government annual budget for community investment in maintenance and management, that is M&M, of streams?”
“Streams need a place to be. If we cannot get our heads around that, we are not going to keep our streams. When something does not get measured, it does not get managed,” Tim Pringle stresses.
STORY BEHIND THE STORY: EAP is a financial tool to help streams survive – extracts from a conversation with Anna Lawrence and Sam Gerrand
“The story behind the story is about the importance of embedding knowledge of EAP into the youth who are going to be the future of our local governments. The framework that we have set up ensures this will happen,” Graham Sakaki emphasized in a conversation about what being an EAP partner means to him and to Vancouver Island University.
“There are lots of partnerships that exist for selfish reasons. But the EAP Partnership is selfless, and from all angles. It is a leap of faith for member local governments. Partnership for Water Sustainability commitment to passing the baton is unwavering.”
PART ONE: Reflections by Anna Lawrence about her journey as the coordinator
“Led by Tim Pringle, the Partnership for Water Sustainability created the EAP methodology and refined it with 9 demonstration projects. The success is that EAP has been passed on to VIU as part of the intergenerational baton. Now we are in the midst of a 3-year transition strategy to embed it,” states Anna Lawrence.
“We have just completed three Year One projects through partnerships with three local governments. The work involved four students, two in Geographic Information Systems and two in the Master of Community Planning program, as well as three MABBRI staff who have been trained in the EAP methodology.”
Coming up to speed in Year One
“I came into the EAP process with a completely different background because my master’s degree is in Sustainable Leisure Management.”
“So, it was a journey to get my head around the jargon and the different viewpoints and ways of thinking. This applied not only to the development of the EAP methodology but also to the different stakeholders.”
“The 3-year transition strategy is an opportunity to absorb as much as we can. Not just me but all the others learning beside me.”
“There are many different parts to EAP. With each part comes a pathway with capacity to help local governments. In his Master’s thesis, Sam Gerrand has explored one pathway to apply EAP at a regional scale. This research holds exciting potential.”
PART TWO: Reflections by Sam Gerrand on the potential for EAP as a predictive tool
“My experience has been the same as Anna. A year ago, I was an outsider to the topic. It has been a fun journey learning what EAP is and the potential for its application.”
“It has also been exciting because I have a background in geographic information science and geography. And so I approached my project with the lens of that technical skillset and an applied topic.”
“As well, I spent a lot of time as a kid growing up around creeks and streams. My dad was involved in riparian area management. So I have an attachment to the research topic.”
What it means to do a deeper dive into the numbers
“The cool part is that because I worked on this project in an academic setting, I was able to investigate in more detail how EAP could be applied in a different way or even changed to be more useful to practitioners.”
“My research looked at ways we could take EAP from a stream-by-stream approach and apply it to a watershed scale or a regional scale. This might be really useful and cost-effective for local governments that have multiple streams in their jurisdiction.”
“The exciting part of what I found is the strong relationship between land use intensity and the financial values of the streams that we are finding in the EAP studies.”
“What makes it exciting is the accuracy of land use intensity as an indicator for use of EAP as a predictive tool at the regional scale. The difference between predicted and actual values for the Natural Commons Asset financial value is within 5%.”
“That finding is really encouraging in terms of what it means for local governments. They can move forward in an affordable and effective way to deliver timely solutions,” concludes Sam Gerrand.
Natural Commons Asset defined:
The NCA is the portion of the stream corridor that lies in the regulated streamside setback zone as defined in the Riparian Areas Protection Regulation Act. The NCA width is the sum of the stream width plus the setback distance on each side of the stream.
PART THREE: Reflections by Anna Lawrence on the layers within the EAP process
“There are lots of layers to this partnership and projects. Not only is there a transition strategy, but there are also the partnerships with the local governments plus integrating other grad students,” emphasizes Anna Lawrence.
“When we started this work. Sam and I were both getting our heads around the EAP methodology. And because we had yet to complete the three Year One partner projects, we were not fully understanding all the implications.”
“But Year One is now behind us and we can see the many directions EAP could take. We are envisioning other areas of research as potential EAP projects. And thanks to a grant from Mitacs, we are able to take on up to six more research projects for graduate students, with opportunities to incorporate this into their thesis.”
Absorb, communicate, and refine the communication
“I am very focused on the 3-year transition strategy because Year One was just trying to absorb as much knowledge as possible. And so, in Year Two I think it is time to begin that communication process. And Year Three will be refining that communication process.”
“In summary, there have been and will continue to be multiple layers to EAP. In Year One, it was a juggling process with many moving parts and trying to keep them all in balance. And so, we look forward to sharing our EAP experience at the BC Land Summit,” concludes Anna Lawrence.
Living Water Smart in British Columbia Series
To download a copy of the foregoing resource as a PDF document for your records and/or sharing, click on Living Water Smart in British Columbia: EAP is a financial tool to help streams survive.
DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/wcp/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/04/PWSBC_Living-Water-Smart_EAP-Partnership-and-intergenerational-baton_2024.pdf