Convening for Action in British Columbia

“The focus of our September-October 2016 issue is infrastructure financing. This is why featured an article by Kim Stephens of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia. He connects the dots between streams systems and asset management. He writes about a Watershed Moment in the evolution of Rainwater Management! Let’s establish a system that will lead to self-sustaining, community-driven success and give Canadians a chance to decide what constitutes the best value for their tax dollars,” stated Katherine Balpataky, Water Canada editor.

“Cathedral thinking aptly describes the philosophy that guides the work of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC. We inform, educate, train and mentor with a view to the long-term and creating a lasting legacy. We can learn from our ancestors. The grand creations of antiquity were not designed with a quarterly report or 4-year election term in mind. The builders of great cathedrals in medieval times thought in terms of multiple generations carrying out their work, to complete a dream that would not be realised until long after the originator’s death,” stated Kim Stephens.

“The article published in Watermark magazine is about the ‘Feast AND Famine’ workshop. Held in Richmond, and co-hosted by the Partnership for Water Sustainability and the Irrigation Industry Association, the 3rd in our year-end series showcased solutions and tools to address risk and build resiliency. A decade earlier, the 2003 ‘teachable year’ had set in motion water sustainability processes in BC, guided by a vision to develop solutions and tools that would help communities manage risk and build resiliency in response to a changing climate,” stated Mike Tanner.

Written by veteran reporter Kent Spencer, the article speculated as to whether there is a connection between “the blob” – a warm ocean area roughly the size of the continental United States – and the changing climate in BC. “It was a pretty unusual event which no one predicted. In the future, we can expect more. The study found that temperatures had never been as high. When there is persistent warming over a few decades there will be more extreme events. British Columbia is right on the frontline,” stated Hillary Scannell.

“For British Columbians, 2015 was the year of the great drought, dwindling snow packs, melting glaciers, beleaguered salmon runs and a costly forest fire season, followed by windstorms and heavy rains. I asked Kim Stephens what would be his prescription for a city like Vancouver where the land use is relatively diverse; and where there is not a lot of agricultural land inside the city. Yet users are very demanding on the system, and there are individuals who perhaps do not act as a community at times. So, I asked Kim what should we do,” stated Kirk Lapointe.

“This past summer, local government water managers throughout Southwest BC were telling me that watershed conditions were so dry that there was simply no inflow to water storage reservoirs as the drought progressed. There were a lot of worried folks by late July when there was no end in sight to the drought and it appeared that we were about to experience an unprecedented 6-month period with almost no rain. There is no Plan B once the reservoirs are empty. Communities in southwest British Columbia dodged a bullet in 2015. The clock is ticking,” stated Kim Stephens.

“Despite the current deluge of rain and snow, Vancouverites could well be facing another drought crisis this summer. Kim Stephens said that Metro Vancouver’s two ‘comparatively small’ reservoirs were designed for repeated rainfalls and heavy snow in the mountains. Those conditions are not expected to apply over the next nine months and the population has grown to about 2.5 million people. People in general have not appreciated how vulnerable we’ve always been, added Stephens. They’re beginning to see how essential it is,” he said,” wrote Kent Spencer.

“British Columbians are fooling themselves if they think feel-good market gardens are the solution to making the province less reliant on outside food sources. 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. You’re going against food security when you are putting in (to production) two one-acre parking lots and removing 150 hectares of land at the port … getting rid of the last large parcels of agricultural land that we have. The messaging is wrong,” stated Ted van der Gulik.

“Coined in 2010, the term Sustainable Service Delivery integrates financial accountability, infrastructure sustainability and service delivery. The BC Framework focuses on desired outcomes rather than prescribing specific methodologies. It can achieve the goal of sustainable service delivery for watershed systems. While the BC Framework was only launched in early 2015, it has garnered both national and international attention. Other provinces as well as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities are integrating it into their respective work,” stated Glen Brown.

“This is a story about what is possible in urban water sustainability. Blue City is an idea that is emerging and well within reach for most communities. It is not a utopian fantasy. The elements that make the City exemplary are occurring in real places across Canada and around the world. The City described herein combines these characteristics into a single, fictional location, and in so doing demonstrates an end state towards which real cities can aspire. It is what any place could look like if water really mattered,” stated Kirk Stinchcombe, lead author.