WATER SUSTAINABILITY ACTION PLAN: Community-of-practice for ‘Convening for Action in British Columbia’ – “Having the waterbucket.ca website as a communication platform allows the Action Plan partners to ‘tell our story’ and ‘record our history’ as a work-in-progress,” stated Ray Fung (2006)
“Convening for Action is a provincial initiative that supports innovation on-the-ground. From the perspective of those leading and/or participating in regional programs, having this community-of-interest provides the opportunity to ‘tell our story’ and ‘record our history’ as a work-in-progress,” states Ray Fung. “It will turn ideas into action by building capacity and understanding regarding integration of long-term, strategic planning and the implementation of physical infrastructure.”
DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCE: The Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia – Our Story (March 2018)
“Future planners, engineers, scientists, politicians and citizens alike will be called upon to demonstrate both vision and pragmatism, working as a team towards consensus, commitment and collaboration for the common good. Such collaboration is essential and must cross all political and community boundaries given that climate change is no respecter of such creations. The Partnership has accepted this challenge and its implementation,” stated Eric Bonham.
Green, Heal and Restore the Earth: Ian McHarg’s “Design with Nature” vision has influenced implementation of British Columbia’s Water Sustainability Action Plan
In his 1969 book, Design With Nature, Ian McHarg pioneered the concept of environmental planning. “So, I commend Design with Nature to your sympathetic consideration. The title contains a gradient of meaning. It can be interpreted as simply descriptive of a planning method, deferential to places and peoples, it can invoke the Grand Design, it can emphasize the conjunction with and, finally it can be read as an imperative. DESIGN WITH NATURE!,” wrote Ian McHarg.
DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: When an elected leader is THE CHAMPION, the community benefits” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in October 2024
“Politicians know how to get elected. But do they know all that other stuff that they need to know? To ask the tough questions, you must be informed and educated about what matters. To be a better, more effective decision maker, you have to understand how things work so that your decisions are in context with other issues. A lot of what happens depends on the leadership, both political and at the staff level. You need BOTH to work. You need the politicians to lead, and you need staff to help educate and bring the politicians along and get good policy,” stated Darrell Mussatto.
DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Natural Intelligence – a new paradigm for water stewardship” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in September 2024
“We need both a mindset change and an attitude switch to get through times of crisis. Blue Ecology points the way to water reconciliation between cultures…and with nature. Everyone seems to be focused on Artificial Intelligence, computers and the wonders of all that. But on our doorstep all along is Natural Intelligence. It is ignored because it is not understood,” stated Michael Blackstock. “Look beyond AI to solve your problems. There is this vast amount of wisdom out there that Indigenous peoples have seen forever…and that is Natural Intelligence.”
CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION: “The task at hand is about how to redefine things in a new political environment so you would be able to get a new vision and new political commitment,” stated Ray Fung (1st installment in a series)
“With the housing issue dominating the conversation, how will you reframe the goal and objective for restoration of stream systems in a way that restores political commitment and rebuilds the coalition? What combination of public self-interest and political lever will it take to effect change? What would leveraging political commitment and self-interest look like for rainwater management and riparian forest integrity in today’s context? What combination will it take to effect change? Learn from past experience. There is no time to reinvent the wheel,” stated Ray Fung.
ARTICLE: “Critical thinking is a prerequisite for meaningful data collection!” (Asset Management BC Newsletter, Summer 2024)
“Local governments need data that is meaningful for infrastructure asset management, but quality and usefulness have emerged as issues of paramount concern. Before collecting data, make sure you ask the right questions,” states Kim Stephens. “Be clear on why data is needed. What is the desired outcome? How will you use the information or data? Will it help you make better decisions? How much and what kind of data do you actually need? Does the cost meet the test of being affordable and effective? What are the tradeoffs between risk, complexity and cost?”
DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver – solutions to complex problems require deep knowledge” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in September 2024
“When you think of the issues we face today…weather extremes, drying rivers, degraded streams, frequent wildfires, population growth, housing affordability…they are no different than they were 30 years ago. They are just more complex and more urgent. The Georgia Basin Initiative encouraged us to see the bioregion as an integrated whole, to understand that land, air, water, people, animals and fish are all interconnected. Viewing our growth challenges through this more wholistic lens will give us the best chance to monitor progress,” stated Joan Sawicki.
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
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. “At the time, the value of managing drainage on a watershed basis within a broad framework of land management and ecosystem planning was not yet apparent. Research on stream health at the University of Washington changed all this,” stated Robert Hicks.
FLASHBACK TO 2010: “Think about it – the Reference Panel has influenced the waste committee, the finance committee and the way we make decisions overall. It is great,” stated Pam Goldsmith-Jones, former mayor of West Vancouver (2005-2011)
When the process for updating the Metro Vancouver region’s “Integrated Liquid Waste and Resource Management Plan” commenced in 2008, Metro Vancouver Regional District staff were enthusiastic about the role of the Reference Panel. Because there was trust with staff, and the Reference Panel had the attention of the politicians, the Reference Panel could say what staff could not. There was huge positive value in that. The Reference Panel reinforced desired outcomes with its recommendations.
CONVENING FOR ACTION AT THE 2024 BC LAND SUMMIT: “The Partnership hopes that the summit will prove to be a seminal moment in sparking an attitude change about land and water. Time will tell,” stated Kim Stephens, Executive Director, Partnership for Water Sustainability (May 2024)
“Held every five years as a 3-day event, the BC Land Summit is a watershed moment for showcasing new ideas. The target audiences are those involved in some form of land-related profession. In 2024, the Partnership for Water Sustainability delivered two 90-minute interactive sessions under the banner Caring for the Land Means Going Beyond Just Doing Enough. These sessions were cascading and integrated. A desired outcome is that they would spark innovation and collaboration, by providing valuable insights about the use and conservation of land and water,” stated Kim Stephens.
DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Landscapes and watersheds in BC are at a heightened risk” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in May 2024
“The story of my forest hydrology research over the past 30 years is actually a traumatizing story. Most of the landscapes in British Columbia and most of our watersheds are sitting at a very heightened risk when it comes to hydrology and geomorphology. The risks are greater than we were led to believe by government, industry, and professionals. But scholars in the philosophy of science will tell you that scientists will never admit to erroneous precedents. An eminent scientist once said, science progresses one funeral at a time,” stated Dr. Younes Alila.
LANDSCAPES AND WATERSHEDS IN BC ARE AT A HEIGHTENED RISK: “Younes Alila is in the news because he is raising the alarm. His message boils down to RISK AND LIABILITY. The actual consequences of clearcut logging, he warns, are magnified in this era of weather extremes,” stated Kim Stephens
“UBC forestry professor Dr. Younes Alila is courageous in challenging conventional wisdom about what he believes to be the misguided and scientifically indefensible practice of forest hydrology in BC. His findings are relevant to urban drainage practice. Trained as a civil engineer, Younes Alila found himself having to do science. In the process, he landed on a discovery of great import. Research by Younes Alila and his grad students over the past three decades demonstrates how clearcut logging leads to more frequent flooding, including extreme floods,” stated Younes Alila.