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“For British Columbians, 2015 was the year of the great drought, dwindling snow packs, melting glaciers, beleaguered salmon runs and a costly forest fire season, followed by windstorms and heavy rains. I asked Kim Stephens what would be his prescription for a city like Vancouver where the land use is relatively diverse; and where there is not a lot of agricultural land inside the city. Yet users are very demanding on the system, and there are individuals who perhaps do not act as a community at times. So, I asked Kim what should we do,” stated Kirk Lapointe.

“This past summer, local government water managers throughout Southwest BC were telling me that watershed conditions were so dry that there was simply no inflow to water storage reservoirs as the drought progressed. There were a lot of worried folks by late July when there was no end in sight to the drought and it appeared that we were about to experience an unprecedented 6-month period with almost no rain. There is no Plan B once the reservoirs are empty. Communities in southwest British Columbia dodged a bullet in 2015. The clock is ticking,” stated Kim Stephens.

“Despite the current deluge of rain and snow, Vancouverites could well be facing another drought crisis this summer. Kim Stephens said that Metro Vancouver’s two ‘comparatively small’ reservoirs were designed for repeated rainfalls and heavy snow in the mountains. Those conditions are not expected to apply over the next nine months and the population has grown to about 2.5 million people. People in general have not appreciated how vulnerable we’ve always been, added Stephens. They’re beginning to see how essential it is,” he said,” wrote Kent Spencer.

“British Columbians are fooling themselves if they think feel-good market gardens are the solution to making the province less reliant on outside food sources. I support market gardens, they’re good. It’s great to grow food in parking lots, having people grow their own food. Just don’t call them food security. You’re going against food security when you are putting in (to production) two one-acre parking lots and removing 150 hectares of land at the port … getting rid of the last large parcels of agricultural land that we have. The messaging is wrong,” stated Ted van der Gulik.

“Coined in 2010, the term Sustainable Service Delivery integrates financial accountability, infrastructure sustainability and service delivery. The BC Framework focuses on desired outcomes rather than prescribing specific methodologies. It can achieve the goal of sustainable service delivery for watershed systems. While the BC Framework was only launched in early 2015, it has garnered both national and international attention. Other provinces as well as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities are integrating it into their respective work,” stated Glen Brown.

“This is a story about what is possible in urban water sustainability. Blue City is an idea that is emerging and well within reach for most communities. It is not a utopian fantasy. The elements that make the City exemplary are occurring in real places across Canada and around the world. The City described herein combines these characteristics into a single, fictional location, and in so doing demonstrates an end state towards which real cities can aspire. It is what any place could look like if water really mattered,” stated Kirk Stinchcombe, lead author.

Major floods in Alberta and in the Toronto region in June and July of 2013 focused attention on the benefits of green infrastructure. “Our climate is changing and 2013 is a teachable year; this creates a window of opportunity for local government action,” stated Kim Stephens in the interview. “We have the tools. We have the science-based understanding. We know what works and we know how to implement a design with nature approach. Install green infrastructure that restores the Water Balance. If we focus our efforts on that outcome, we can make it happen.”

“Urban trees have popular appeal and are also highly regulated. Most cities have bylaws that protect mature trees from being cut down and dictate how many trees must accompany new development. There is also increasing research and awareness around the role trees play in urban ecosystems and infrastructure. For the past decade, Kim Stephens has been talking to municipal staff and politicians in B.C. about ‘green infrastructure’ – using trees and landscaping to help absorb rainwater, restore streams and make neighbourhoods more attractive,” wrote Wendy Stueck.

“British Columbia is ahead of the fold when it comes to water conservation efforts, but the changing ethics of water sustainability suggest a new approach across industry and society as a whole is needed. The Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia help to drive the conversation on sustainable water use by major industry. Kim Stephens, the Partnership’s executive director, points out that for major industry, decisions are often driven by the economics of the situation. He definitely agrees BC is progressive when it comes to water sustainability but point out there’s more work to be done,” stated Andrew Searle.