“The Hastings Creek Blueprint is much more than a report. It is an online decision support tool: map-based; and inter-departmental in application. It is already enabling the District to incorporate early actions into operational work plans,” emphasizes Kim Stephens.
“The Ministry’s renewed emphasis on the rainwater management component of Liquid Waste Management Plans has created an opportunity to demonstrate how to integrate regulatory compliance and collaboration,” stated Cairine MacDonald, (former) Deputy Minister of Environment in a September 2012 announcement.
“The Hastings Creek story is the first in a series of Watershed Blueprint Case Profiles that the Partnership is releasing. These will inform inter-regional collaboration among local governments in BC. We anticipate that sharing experiences will accelerate effective watershed restoration and/or protection within participating regions,” states Tim Pringle.
Richard Boase and Ariel Estrada are the Hasting Creek Watershed Blueprint co-champions. Their long-term working relationship has built the foundation for an on-the-ground understanding of what is needed to restore watershed and stream health, what is possible and how to implement change.
“The Hastings Creek Watershed Blueprint has helped us figure out the context for the Lynn Valley Town Centre. In the process, we have demonstrated how to move back and forth between scales. We have also learned how to work with imperfect information and work towards a solution. We have enough information to make decisions,” states Susan Haid.
“Integration of the Lynn Valley Town Centre and Watershed Blueprint processes has yielded invaluable understanding. We have a plan; there is agreement about the goals; we are developing tools for use by staff, developers and homeowners; and we have a schedule of opportunities. Everything that we need is in play,” states Gavin Joyce.
“Good engineering is all about knowing when and how to ask the right questions before diving into technical analyses. Having a clear decision framework got us off to a good start and kept us on track. Because a level-of-service approach is actually common-sense engineering, everything fell into place,” reports Ariel Estrada.
“Rainwater is a key feature of everything that is proposed. We have been guided by this principle: how will the Town Centre Draft Implementation Plan do its part to improve the overall health of the entire Hastings Creek watershed system?”, states Karen Rendek.
“The Development Servicing Bylaw provides a relevant frame of reference for implementing the WBM Express. It contains language that clearly identifies that flood risk and erosion be maintained at rates that approximate the natural forested watershed,” observes Steve Ono.
“One of the ways to foster more sustainable behavior and the protection of watersheds such as Hastings Creek is to engage residents so that they feel connected personally to their watershed. It is not a matter of only saying what the District can do for the watershed. Rather, it must be all the stakeholders,” states Julie Pavey.
