“The desired outcome can be achieved by managing sewage and rainwater as resources, not waste. The Liquid Waste Management Plan is a powerful regulatory tool because it enables Metro Vancouver municipalities to integrate community design with desired outcomes at a regional scale and individual actions at a site scale,” stated Susan Rutherford.
The 2006 Series was funded by the Stormwater Interagency Liaison Group of the Greater Vancouver Regional District in order to build regional capacity. The Summary Report describes how the series came about and what was accomplished.
Three projects were featured – a lane, a highway and a local community. In the morning, there were comprehensive and in-depth presentations.In the afternoon, participants were taken by bus to see how these projects have been implemented
The focus was on what the City believes it can systematically accomplish on-the-ground, at a watershed scale, now and over the next 50 years by building on the East Clayton experience.
The unifying theme was “Greening Local Roadways – Integration of Rainwater Management & Transportation Design”.
The Metro Vancouver Board appointed the Liquid Waste Management Reference Panel to provide input on the discussion documents and on the subsequent Draft Plan. The Reference Panel is independent and reports directly to the region's elected representatives. “The panel is comprised of community members who bring a variety of perspectives to liquid waste issues, including technical experts, liquid waste management specialists, business representatives and citizens with an interest in liquid waste topics,” explained Marvin Hunt.
“In general, we believe that the plans that are being produced reflect a cookie-cutter approach. The ISMP process has for the most part resulted in drainage planning that applies traditional design criteria and then adds in environmental requirements. This Old Business As Usual approach has the result of increasing unfunded budget items/liabilities without resulting in a benefit,” stated Kim Stephens.
“There is a window of opportunity to do business differently because we know from experience that the old ways do not work. Changing the language is part of the process of advancing change,” stated Christianne Wilhelmson.
“REAC is a key group in terms of representing the municipal perspective in plan development. It was therefore important that the Reference Panel initiate a dialogue with REAC and build trust. So we met with REAC to explain the Reference Panel process, with emphasis on what we reported to the Waste Management Committee in July 2008,” stated Kim Stephens.
“UniverCity on Burnaby Mountain” is living up to expectations…the vision for a sustainable community has quickly come to fruition.
