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The Real Estate Foundation of BC is a sponsor of the 2017 Blue Ecology Workshop. “Water is central to ecological health and supports our communities and economies,” stated Jack Wong. “Land use and real estate practices have significant impacts on the quality and supply of freshwater. By using research, education, law and policies we can support sustainable land uses and promote freshwater governance to ensure that British Columbia has enough clean water to meet current and future needs.”

“Successful implementation provincewide of ‘Sustainable Watershed Systems, through Asset Management’, would represent an evolution in how infrastructure is planned, financed, implemented and maintained in British Columbia,” stated the Hon. Peter Fassbender, (former) Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development. “Work needs to be done today to ensure we have a secure water future. Benefits are long-term.”

“Moving beyond traditional engineered infrastructure asset management to also account for nature’s services will help influence ‘standards of practice’ and represent a leading-edge evolution in how infrastructure is planned, financed, implemented and maintained in BC. The long-term success of the IREI program will be measurable when community development activities and alterations of the built environment result in cumulative benefits, not impacts,” stated BC Deputy Minister Wes Shoemaker.

“For the fifth straight year, the Irrigation Industry Association of BC and the Partnership for Water Sustainability are partnering to co-host a workshop that will mainstream a ‘big idea’ and provide professional developmentabout water management in BC,” states Kim Schaefer. “This year the workshop moves back to the Lower Mainland after being held in the Okanagan (2016), Lower Mainland (2013, 2015) and on Vancouver Island (2014).”

Morgan Guerin, secəlenəχʷ, is a Fisheries Officer and an elected Councillor for the Musqueam Indian Band. “The Musqueam equivalent of cathedral thinking is called ‘seven generations’. We look back seven generations. You have to look back far in order to be able to look far ahead,” stated Morgan Guerin. “Plant seeds in minds. Think about what you want in the future. Say something enough times and people will hear it.”

“The critical issue is the salt wedge and window of opportunity for pumping water from the Fraser River,” stated Ted van der Gulik. “An increase in sea levels combined with a drought flow on the Fraser River would allow salt water to move further up the river in the future. This would shut down water supply intakes for a longer period of time, and could make it challenging to extract good quality irrigation water for use in Richmond and Delta.”

Cathedral thinking aptly describes the philosophy that guides the work of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC. “Cathedral Thinking is so simple for people to understand. You can actually explain it in about 45 seconds, and people nod, ‘Oh yeah. If I was designing a cathedral, it was going to take 50 years to build. I wouldn’t be around so I need to have a design that somebody else can finish, and that somebody else after them has to be able to finish it. I get it. Done’,” said Rick Antonson.

“The Blue Ecology Workshop encourages you to look at water differently; to look at each other differently – in a new way.” states Fin Donnelly. “Seize the opportunity to share experiences, knowledge and learn from one another’s perspectives! In my judgment, the Blue Ecology Workshop has the potential to be a transformational event – especially if water professionals who participate see value in working with others.”

“The news from the natural world this last summer has been mostly about water or lack thereof, understandably so, given the devastating hurricanes experienced in the southern states and the equally devastating fires raging throughout British Columbia,” wrote Eric Bonham. “Given the central role of water in these changing circumstances calls for a re-visit of the water story.”

“A recent interview with a UN diplomat got me thinking. The real issue is public engagement, he said. We are at a moment of truth. Unless the climate message offers hope, he explained, individuals will not be motivated to take action in the face of change. Yet action does need to happen quickly. Because Blue Ecology is a message of hope, I believe it is an idea whose time has come,” stated Bob McDonald.