A SHORT HISTORY OF THE PARTNERSHIP FOR WATER SUSTAINABILITY: “A strength of The Partnership is being able to cross boundaries with comfort and draw players together for the benefit of the whole,” states Richard Boase, career environmental champion in local government
Note to Reader:
The early history of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia is presented in the contextual document titled Celebration of Our Story: Genesis / First Decade / What Next, published in November 2020. The following article is the 8th in a series of extracts from this key document.
The article covers the First Decade of the Partnership as a legal entity. The main takeaway is that a strength of the Partnership is being able to cross boundaries with comfort and draw players together for the benefit of the whole.
First Decade as “The Partnership”
“During the period 2008 through 2010, it was clear that the scope of Action Plan partnerships had evolved beyond what could or should be undertaken by a technical committee of BCWWA. For example, the total investment of resources by the Water Balance Model Partnership and the Waterbucket.ca Partnership was substantial,” states Glen Brown. At the time, he was an Executive Director in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs.
“The Action Plan has led to growing collaboration regarding the role of water sustainability in shaping our communities,” continues Tim Pringle, founding President. “Water sustainability is a metaphor for managing the built environment sustainably. Incorporating the Partnership as a legal entity is a natural outcome. This demonstrated record of collaboration is our strength going forward.”
Legal Standing of The Partnership
With a record of collaboration as the context for an exciting new phase of the journey, the Partnership for Water Sustainability was incorporated as a non-profit society on November 19, 2010. Six years later, in November 2016, the new Societies Act came into effect in British Columbia. It provided clarity regarding types of societies. This clarity helped the Partnership define its identity.
The Partnership Provides Services to Government
“In 2016, each pre-existing society was asked whether it wished to designate itself as a member-funded society by including a statement to that effect in its constitution. A member-funded society is funded primarily by its members to carry on activities for the benefit of its members,” explains Derek Richmond, Partnership director and secretary.
Defining Initiatives in the First Decade
“A strength of the Partnership is that we can cross regional boundaries with comfort and draw players together for the benefit of the whole, and as a result, encourage an inclusive sustainability vision,” continues Derek Richmond, a past-chair of the CAVI-Convening for Action on Vancouver Island program.
“The first decade of the Partnership role as a legal entity is defined by the success of four major major programs:
Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Education Initiative (known by the acronym IREI),
BC Agricultural Water Demand Model Program,
Ecological Accounting Process (i.e. EAP), and
Vancouver Island Symposia Series on Water Stewardship.”
Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Education Initiative
“Launched in 2012, the IREI facilitates peer-based education among local governments located on the east coast of Vancouver Island and in the Lower Mainland. The IREI builds on the legacy of Erik Karlsen whose leadership inspired the original Georgia Basin Initiative in 1994,” adds Kim Stephens.
Nested Initiatives / Cascading Objectives
“The IREI is nested within the Water Sustainability Action Plan which, in turn, is nested within Living Water Smart. Cascading is the reverse way to think about this nesting concept. Each successive layer in the cascade adds depth and detail to enable the move from awareness to implementation. In other words, ACTION.”
High-Level Endorsement / Grant Funding
“In 2016, The Partnership asked the five regional districts for Board Resolutions that: 1) expressed their support for the Partnership; and 2) endorsed IREI program objectives through 2021. Having this clear demonstration of support was a difference-maker for the Partnership. We secured senior government grants to fund the IREI program through 2021.”
Agricultural Water Demand Model Program
This water management planning tool calculates current and future agriculture water demands in British Columbia, and accounts for climate change. Led by Ted van der Gulik, the tool and implementation program flowed from one of the 45 actions and targets in Living Water Smart.
A Family of Science-Based Tools
“The Partnership is program delivery manager for this multi-year and province-wide program. We are currently in our Second 5-Year Implementation Agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture. The annual budget is generally up to $0.5 million. This provides context for the scope of the program,” explains Ted van der Gulik. After retiring as the Senior Engineer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Ted succeeded Tim Pringle as Partnership President.
“The Partnership has developed several spin-off tools. The first one was the BC Agriculture Water Calculator in 2015. It supports the provincial government’s application process for all new water licences. The newest tool is the BC Landscape Water Calculator.”
BC Landscape Water Calculator
“Integration of the BC Landscape Water Calculator, as a foundation piece for the next generation of water conservation programs in BC, would help communities bring to fruition the vision for water sustainability. Use of the tool would help local governments achieve their water budgets and associated demand reduction targets,” continues Ted van der Gulik.
“The BC Landscape Water Calculator allows a user to divide their property into ‘hydrozones’ (planting areas). Then they can test various combinations of plant types and irrigation systems. The objective is to be at or below the allowable water budget set by the local government partner.”
“The power of the tool is that it is linked to the provincial 500 metre gridded climate dataset that was built for the Agricultural Water Demand Model. This is what establishes the allowable water budget. It is a real number based on average climate data for the period 2000 through 2010 for the active growing season.”
EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process
Led by Tim Pringle, the EAP program is a flagship initiative that supports Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery: A BC Framework. The Partnership initiated EAP concept development in 2015 to support the whole-system, water balance approach.
TO LEARN MORE: https://waterbucket.ca/sws/
Within a year of initiating concept development, the Partnership was ready to proceed with a 3-stage program to test, refine and mainstream EAP. By the end of 2021, the Partnership will have completed 10 demonstration applications spread over five regions.
Methodology and Metrics for Valuing Natural Assets
“Local governments have existing tools in the form of policies and legislation for ‘maintenance and management’ (M&M) of ecological assets, which are used for infrastructure services. What they have lacked to date, however, is a pragmatic methodology and meaningful metrics to support decision-making and implementation,” explains Tim Pringle.
“EAP provides local governments with a methodology and metrics so that they can calculate the financial value of the land within the stream setback zone, expressed as dollars per km. Using this information, they have a defensible basis for proposing a baseline annual budget for restoration of the stream system (which is the natural asset) within the setback zone.”
Reconnect Hydrology and Ecology
“EAP uses the parallel concepts of the Natural Commons and the Constructed Commons to enable elected persons, local government staff, practitioners and residents to consider ecological services and use of land (development) as equally important. These are foundational concepts for a local government’s asset management strategy that strives to reconnect hydrology and ecology.”
Vancouver Island Watershed Moments Symposia Series
“Beginning in 2017, a shared vision for the Vancouver Island Symposia Series on Water Stewardship in a Changing Climate as a convening for action forum has evolved through a building blocks approach: Nanaimo in 2018; Parksville in 2019; and the 2020 Virtual Symposium,” states John Finnie, founding chair of the Watershed Moments Team. John is the former General Manager of Regional and Community Utilities with the Regional District of Nanaimo.
“Delivered under the IREI umbrella, the Watershed Moments Series is co-led by the Partnership and the Nanaimo & Area Land Trust, which is best known by the acronym NALT. The series team includes representatives of all three levels of government.”
“Every team member involved in delivery of the Watershed Moments Series is passionate about what she or he does,” continues Richard Boase, the series moderator. “This is what we hope and believe will inspire our audience to apply what they absorb from the series. It is best to view the series as an important milestone in a journey. We hope to bring others along with us.”
To Learn More:
To read the complete story about the early history of the Partnership, download a copy of Celebration of Our Story: Genesis / First Decade / What Next. It is structured in two part parts. Part One sketches an outline of many ideas and nuances about the work of The Partnership. Part Two is a deeper dive as shown in the storyboard below.
DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/atp/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/11/PWSBC_Story-of-First-Decade_Nov-2020.pdf
