DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Urban streams are municipal assets; they supply ecological services” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in April 2025
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. Storylines accommodate a range of reader attention spans. Stories are structured in three parts: One-Minute Takeaway (reproduced below), Editor’s Perspective, and the Story Behind the Story.
The edition published on April 8, 2025 featured Tim Pringle and Robert Hicks to support an announcement that the Partnership and the Metro Vancouver Regional District are co-funding the next evolution of EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process. Metro Vancouver is coming full circle to build on seminal research that it undertook in the late 1990s to develop a classification system for watershed health. EAP adds financial dimension for asset management purposes.
Metro Van legacy research; benchmark for watershed health comparison then and now
“Urban streams are rarely managed as ecological systems or as municipal assets. Rather, they are sliced and diced to suit land development objectives. And this has consequences such as erosion and flood damage, loss of property enjoyment, and loss of aquatic habitat,” stated Tim Pringle at a recent technical meeting of Metro Vancouver member municipalities.
Legacy research informs path forward for community investment in urban stream systems to reduce risks and costs
Benchmark for comparison, then versus now
“Context is everything. In 1999, the science was brand new and the Streamside Protection Regulation was still two years away from becoming law. This context underscores just how far ahead of the game that Metro was with its watershed health work.”
“Completed in 1999, the landmark project was titled Assessment of Current and Future Conditions of GVS&DD Area Watershed and Catchment Conditions. Metro Vancouver was ahead of its time with this leading-edge application of Washington State science.”
Urban streams are municipal assets; they need to be maintained and managed to supply ecological services
Building on legacy research in 2025
“The Metro Vancouver regional district is the newest member of the EAP Partnership. Metro Vancouver and the Partnership for Water Sustainability are co-funding EAP assessments for 5 streams in 5 member municipalities.”
“This work will set the stage for municipalities throughout the Georgia Basin region to use EAP as a predictive tool,” concluded Tim Pringle.
To Learn More:
To read the complete 3-party story, download a copy of the Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Urban streams are municipal assets; they supply ecological services.
