Category:

…2021

DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Blue Ecology Virtual Seminar on Creating a Climate for Change” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in October 2021


“Are you prepared and willing to change your definition of water in science? And if you are, what would the change in definition look like? This is what reconciliation really gets down to when we are talking about interweaving Indigenous knowledge and Western science. No longer is it ceremonial. Is Western science prepared, for example, to add the moon to the hydrologic cycle? From the Indigenous perspective, we believe it should be there,” stated Michael Blackstock.

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DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Ramifications of Groundwater Licensing Crisis for BC Economy” released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in October 2021


“For months now, the Partnership has been raising the red flag regarding the consequences of government NOT making a last ditch, all-out effort to urge historical groundwater users to apply for their licences before the deadline. Commit $30 million annually over a 10-year period – to deal with both the fallout of a less-than-successful launch of the groundwater licensing system AND the requirements necessary to meet the objectives of the Water Sustainability Act,” stated Ted van der Gulik in his presentation to the Select Standing Committee on Government Finance.

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DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: A Tribute to Buzz Holling” released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in October 2021


Buzz Holling had profound and far-reaching influence during his lifetime, having made major contributions to the theory of predation, the concept of ecological resilience, the concept of panarchy, and adaptive management. “The only way to approach such a period — where uncertainty is very large and one cannot predict what the future holds – is not to predict, but to act inventively and exuberantly in diverse, adventures in living and experiment,” said Buzz Holling. One of his talents was his ability to bring people together to understand, assess and act on new solutions to complex problems of people and nature.

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DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Bowker Creek Blueprint is a Beacon of Inspiration” released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in September 2021


“The fact that we have been given direction by City Council to move the Bowker Blueprint forward and look for opportunities to daylight the creek means everything. Unless you have the high level ‘this is what we want to do’ permission, pushing it up from the bottom really does not work. It really feels like there is momentum right now. Even if it takes another 50 or 100 years for us to get the creek daylit, the fact is we are in place where we are moving steps closer,” stated Brianne Czypyha.

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DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Lack of Groundwater Licensing is a Crisis in the Making” released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in September 2021


BC’s Water Sustainability Act (WSA) is once-in-a-generation, transformational legislation. The 6-year transition period for groundwater licensing ends on March 1, 2022. The dilemma is that a mere 1 in 5 historical groundwater users have applied for a licence. “If ‘someone’ does not ‘fix’ the groundwater licensing problem, it will get messy for everyone after March 1, 2022. It seems inevitable that government will be forced to act against unlicenced groundwater use. There are a few scenarios that have already come forward in the past few years that indicate what the future may look like,” stated Ted van der Gulik.

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DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Adapting to Climate Realities / Context and History Do Matter!” released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in September 2021


“Every generation is handed a world that has been shaped by their predecessors – and then seemingly forgets that fact. New generations have a habit of collectively forgetting how positive social change comes about through the dogged activism of minorities once shunned. But if the most recent generation is forgetful about the positive steps and changes handed to them by their forebears, then so too can they fail to notice how those predecessors have damaged the world too,” stated Richard Fisher.

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DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Communicating with Plain Language is a Guiding Principle,” released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in September 2021


“By focusing on Vancouver, New York City, Auckland, Sydney, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam I plan to capture a global picture. One area I am particularly interested in is communication, or the lack thereof. In the sciences, one of the largest challenges to research is science communication. A lot of fantastic studies are misinterpreted outside of scientific circles because the language, style and meaning of science writing is very different to non-specialists. With climate change studies, this can lead to a serious disconnect between climate change policy and the supporting research,” stated Charles Axelsson.

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ARTICLE: “Restore the Balance in Water Balance – Climate Change is Another Variable When Planning for Sustainable Service Delivery, Dealing With Uncertainty, and Managing Risk,” (Asset Management BC Newsletter, Summer 2021)


“A constant challenge for planning is not to prevent past events, but instead is to use past experiences to inform and create flexible strategies for the present and the future. Furthermore, this need for flexibility is not restricted to the immediate scope of the problem at hand; but must also consider the broader juggling of evolving local government priorities and service demands. This leads to the challenge of assessing problems with sufficient complexity to arrive at flexible and resilient solutions, while at the same time not being overwhelmed and paralyzed by over-analysis,” stated Robert Hicks.

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DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Groundwater Users Put on Notice,” released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in July 2021


“Government needs to ensure that they communicate ALL of the ongoing financial risks to historical businesses and the potential devaluation of their properties, if they miss the deadline. I believe that it is very important to be crystal clear about the impacts of the end of the transition period given how the law is written. In addition to government’s two-pronged responsibility for better communication and enforcement, there is a third responsibility that all citizens can take on. We all need to recognize the importance of water as a shared resource and illegal water use is unacceptable,” stated Donna Forsyth.

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DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Training Next Generation of Land Use Professionals”, released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in June 2021


“Our collaboration with regional partners is guided by a vision that working together we can increase the environmental, social, cultural, and economic sustainability of the biosphere region. VIU students have assisted with working on all the Ecological Accounting Process case study projects that have been completed in partnership with MABRRI. Both undergraduates and graduates have assisted with these projects,” stated Graham Sakaki.

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