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Protection of farmland — including from port-related development in South Delta — is far more important, along with finding ways to better use water and to bring more irrigation to lands not suitable for growing food, said Ted van der Gulik. “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,” he said.

The 2015 workshop was designed to spark a conversation and ultimately inform a shared vision for ‘designing with nature’ to restore hydrologic integrity and maintain the seasonal ‘water balance’. Eric Bonham provided inspirational remarks to conclude the day. “Over the last five years water issues have become increasingly prominent within BC and beyond. The Partnership has been at the forefront of this understanding,” he said.

“We had a powerhouse team and the program was high-energy. Presentations were dynamic. It made a difference that team members are leaders by example; and everyone is passionate about what they do. The collective enthusiasm of the presentation team energized those who attended the workshop in Richmond. It was a memorable day,” reports Mike Tanner, Workshop Chair.

Western North America may be crossing an invisible threshold into a different hydro-meteorological regime. Kim Stephens will introduce three provincial ‘game-changers’ that enable restorative development in British Columbia. “Now, however, we are at a defining moment in time because the accelerating wave of land and water practitioners retiring from the work force is resulting in a loss of institutional memory,” states Kim Stephens.

“We now realize that our current risk assessments with respect to climate disruption are built on confidence in relative hydrologic stability that no longer exists. This changes everything. We had no idea until recently of how much influence the hydrological cycle has on our day to day lives or on the broader conditions that define the distribution and diversity of life on this planet,” states Bob Sandford.

“The ‘salt wedge’ is a phenomenon that occurs in all tidal estuaries of the world. Salty and dense ocean water entering the river mouth forms an underlying wedge beneath the lighter fresh water that is exiting. Water that is high in salinity can reduce or destroy crop yields, affect aquatic ecosystems and damage infrastructure. The distance that the salt wedge extends up the river changes with the tides and the seasons,” wrote John Ter Borg.

“Climate models predict warmer, longer, and drier summers. This means that farms within the Lower Fraser River will require more irrigation water in the future. Local sea level is predicted to rise and may contribute to an increasing quantity of salt water pushing up the river. In addition, changes to river hydrology may occur due to the removal of the George Massey Tunnel, possibly further increasing salinity levels,” states John ter Borg.

“Recurring region-wide consequences of water-related challenges have also prompted regional action to develop governance structures and processes to make the connections between high-level decision making and actions on the ground. The Regional Surface and Ground Water Management and Governance Study identified co-governance with First Nations as a primary condition for success in managing regional water resources,” stated Keith Lawrence.

“The workshop is about solutions and tools that are being developed in BC in response to a changing climate. Through collaboration, the Partnership mission is to support and enable practitioners and decision makers so that they can take action at a local level. The ultimate goal is to redistribute the annual water balance by protecting and/or restoring the three pathways by which rainfall reaches streams,” Peter Law explained to local government elected representatives.

The ‘new normal’ in British Columbia is floods and droughts. What is changing is how and when water arrives. “After a period of relative hydro-climatic stability, changes in the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere have resulted in the acceleration of the global hydrologic cycle with huge implications for every region of the world and every sector of the global economy,” states Bob Sandford.