Convening for Action in British Columbia

DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Bend the watershed hydrology to reduce risk and liability” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in May 2024

May 28, 2024 - Posted in ...2024, PUBLICATIONS & DOWNLOADS

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 May 28, 2024 featured Robert Hicks, a career engineer-planner in local government in the Metro Vancouver region. He is an original champion of a water balance approach combined with use of green infrastructure to bend the hydrology of a watershed down over decades and thus reduce risk and liability as land use densifies.

Addressing Affordable Housing’s Hidden Utility Costs

A report presented to Metro Vancouver’s regional government in March says leafy, tree-lined neighbourhoods are under threat from increased growth and densification as cities face pressure — including requirements from the provincial government — to build vast amounts of new housing.

The analysis concludes that tree canopy cover has declined and impervious surface levels increased in most member jurisdictions between 2014 and 2020. The region is already backsliding in terms of achieving the regional target to increase tree canopy cover from 32% to 40% by the year 2050.

Removing the tree canopy and covering the land surface with buildings and pavement changes the hydrology of a watershed, and not for the better. How, how much, and how fast water is removed from or runs off an altered landscape is what creates risks and liability.

When tree canopy cover declines and the hardened surface area increases

When we featured Dr. Younes Alila of the UBC Faculty of Forestry last week, his succinct message was: Landscapes and watersheds in BC are at a heightened risk.

With this edition, our spotlight shifts from the rural BC setting to the Metro Vancouver urban region. Hydrology is hydrology. And our land ethic has consequences for water, whether the landscape is urban or wilderness.

Robert Hicks, a career engineer-planner in local government, has an experience-based perspective on the impacts of changes to the landscape. His career achievements include co-creating the “streams and trees component” of the existing Integrated Liquid Waste and Resource Management Plan for the Metro Vancouver region.

TO LEARN MORE:

To read the complete story, download a copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Bend the watershed hydrology to reduce risk and liability. It includes a Bonus Feature – the complete interview with Robert Hicks.