Convening for Action in British Columbia

“The Okanagan Rainwater Workshop is important. It was one of three regional events that served as high-profile platforms for rollout of Beyond the Guidebook 2010: Implementing a New Culture for Urban Watershed Protection and Restoration in British Columbia,” stated Mike Tanner. “As the series unfolds, Water Bucket stories will be placing particular emphasis on those members of the ‘convening for action team’ who are contributing program content at the Okanagan Rainwater Workshop.”

Trees can intercept upwards of 50% of the rain that falls each year on a watershed. Removing the tree cover means that more and more rainfall is converted into runoff volume. “One of our research interests was to determine the effectiveness of a single taken at premiers awards dinnertree versus that for a cluster of trees,” explained Richard Boase.

“We anticipate that this workshop will be of interest to people who put rainwater management techniques and products into practice, such as planners, engineers, and landscape architects from government and private industry, and to those that develop policy around rainwater management, such as elected officials and municipal senior staff,” stated Nelson Jatel.

The 2003 Annual Convention of the Union of BC Municipalities initiated an Outreach and Continuing Education Program (OCEP) that promotes a water-centric approach to community planning and development. “Because our vision is to advance water-centric green infrastructure, it was essential that we have high-level political endorsement. UBCM provided us with high-profile platforms in 2003 and again in 2010. UBCM annual conventions allowed us to showcase we what have accomplished on the ground,” stated Ted van der Gulik.

“Beyond the Guidebook 2010 describes how water sustainability can and will be achieved through implementation of green infrastructure policies and practices. Getting there relies on a change in mind-set,” stated John Finnie. “When the right people with the right knowledge are involved at the right time to apply informed judgment in a collaborative process, the outcome-oriented approach saves time and money.”

“Beyond the Guidebook 2010 is the story of what has been accomplished on the ground since 2004, through partnerships and collaboration, under the umbrella of the Water Sustainability Action Plan. Beyond the Guidebook 2010 is about implementing a new culture for urban watershed protection and restoration. It speaks to the convention theme, Forging Gold Medal Standards, because 2010 is a year that will not soon be forgotten in British Columbia. This is the perfect time to capitalize on forward momentum in our communities,” stated Kim Stephens.

“OCEP promotes a ‘water-centric’ approach to community planning and development. The program comprises inter-connected elements that give local governments and practitioners the tools and experience to better manage land and water resources,” stated Mike Tanner.

Historically, the Province has enabled local government by providing policy and legal tools in response to requests from local government. Local government can choose to act, or not. A ‘design with nature’ policy framework enables local governments to build and/or rebuild communities in balance with ecology. “Major breakthroughs happen when decision makers in government work with grass-roots visionaries in the community to create desired outcomes. Everyone needs to agree on expectations and how they will work together, and after that each community can reach its goals in its own way,” stated Eric Bonham.

“So many in local government are searching for the magical ‘silver bullet’to resolve watershed issues and challenges. Yet soil, vegetation and trees can do more for our watersheds than decades of planning, consulting and complicated engineering design will ever achieve,” stated Richard Boase. “Our challenge has always been how do we implement this kind of basic change in land development practice. Landscape-based measures using rejuvenated soil, vegetation and urban forest for ‘rainfall capture’ are typically low risk, comparatively low cost, and result in nicer looking and functioning communities.”

“The intention is to learn with and from each other about what we can do to advance community-based efforts in creating a conservation culture in BC and achieving an environmentally sustainable future,” stated Pia Nagpal. “To achieve an environmentally-sustainable future with adequately functioning natural systems will require the involvement and commitment of all citizens.”