Convening for Action in British Columbia

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    ACHIEVING WATER BALANCE: Drought, forest fires and floods in 2003 created a “teachable year” for change in British Columbia, got the ball rolling for the Convening for Action in British Columbia initiative, and led directly to the “Water OUT = Water IN” paradigm-shift for water supply management in a changing climate (April 2005)


    In 2004, the Water Sustainability Action Plan and the Provincial Drought Forum generated the momentum within the provincial government to organize the Achieving Water Balance Workshop in 2005. “The severe drought of 2003 in British Columbia is evidence that the historical approach of supply management for water resources is not sufficient,” stated Jim Mattison. Lavishly high volumes of per capita water use, continued community and economic expansion, plus baseline environmental needs were all competing for their share of BC’s finite, but renewable, water resources. The era of supply-side management was drawing to a close.

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    RESTORE THE BALANCE IN THE WATER BALANCE: “In 2005, the year after release of the Water Sustainability Action Plan, the Province and Partnership co-hosted the launch event for the Convening for Action in British Columbia initiative. The event also allowed the Province to fulfil a commitment flowing from the 2004 Drought Forum,” stated Kim Stephens


    “Held in Penticton, the workshop pointed the way forward to the next paradigm-shift in water supply management. Designed as a technical transfer session, it shone the spotlight on the Water OUT = Water IN way-of-thinking. Context is everything. In 2005, BC was early in the second decade of water conservation to reduce demand on supply systems. The ‘Penticton Workshop’ was the first milestone in a multi-year process to raise awareness among water decision-makers that ensuring a safe and adequate water supply depends on understanding the science behind the OUT = IN equation,” stated Kim Stephens.

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    DOWNLOAD THE REPORT ON ACHIEVING WATER BALANCE: “Conventional water supply planning is typically based on a narrow understanding of engineering statistics without really understanding the role that climate variability plays,” stated Robert Hicks, program content co-developer for the workshop that launched the Convening for Action in British Columbia initiative (April 2005)


    The workshop was organized in two parts and the presentations were cascading in order to elaborate on the OUT = IN theme. In the morning session the focus was on concepts and success stories related to Building Resiliency. This provided participants with a mind-map for the afternoon session when they were asked to apply what they had learned in Creating Your Future. “A key message in my presentation revolved around the importance of lingo in communicating with decision-makers, and how messages can easily be lost in translation when language is not used effectively,” stated Robert Hicks.

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    GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: Awareness / Education / Requirement – “Implementation by local governments will be voluntary, but once the decision is made to embrace green infrastructure, implementation will be by regulation,” stated Chuck Gale, a senior local government director of engineering in the Metro Vancouver region and the first Chair (2003-2005) of the BC Green Infrastructure Partnership, when he reflected on the path forward at the 2004 Consultation Workshop held in Metro Vancouver


    “The primary purpose of the consultation was to explore the diversity of issues and difficulties inherent in defining and implementing a green infrastructure approach to land development. The consultation resulted in identification of 17 recommendations in five theme areas,” reported Chuck Gale. “An over-arching theme that emerged from the discussion revolves around the need to provide the bridge between those who make the decisions and those who implement the decisions.”

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    GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “I see my years of chairing the Green Infrastructure Partnership as helping to get the ball rolling and ideas disseminated, on green infrastructure, all of which has subsequently been taken up by others to a much greater degree of implementation and success,” stated Paul Ham, Past-Chair (2005-2008)


    The paradigm-shift that occurred during Paul Ham’s watch far exceeded original expectation that the partnership would be a catalyst for change. As General Manager of Engineering with the City of Surrey, Paul Ham changed history by enabling his staff to pioneer implementation of green infrastructure. He set in motion a chain of events. That is his legacy. At a regional scale, Paul Ham enhanced the credibility of the Green Infrastructure Partnership. This enabled building of bridges to elected representatives and senior managers in the Metro Vancouver region.

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    RECONNECT PEOPLE, FISH, LAND AND WATER: “At the end of the day, it often comes down to the right people in the right place at the right time, over time. When the stars are aligned, it can result in pure magic,” stated Kim Stephens, Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, in his panel presentation at the virtual Living Soils Symposium hosted by Regeneration Canada (February 2021)


    “The vision is to reconnect people, fish, land and water in altered landscapes. The big question is HOW we will pull this off. Decisions ripple through time. So it is imperative that we replace short-term thinking with a long-term view that extends out 50, 100 or more years. Instant gratification and quarterly reports are examples of the worst kinds of short-term thinking. That is what we have to replace with a career perspective. It takes a career to figure things out. And then we have to pass that understanding and wisdom on to the next generation,” stated Kim Stephens.

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    ACHIEVING WATER BALANCE: a set of videos provide an audio record of the “Water OUT = Water IN workshop” held in April 2005 – the event launched the Convening for Action in British Columbia initiative and also fulfilled a provincial government commitment flowing from the 2004 Drought Forum


    “We documented the day by recording it on video. Posted on YouTube, the videos provide a readily accessible record, for posterity, of where our minds were at in 2005. Expressed another way, the videos provide a window into the thinking behind the messages that the members of the workshop team presented. The viewer can listen to and reflect on the words as speakers explain each of their PowerPoint slides. Thus, we envision the videos being of historical value for future researchers,” stated Kim Stephens.

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    MOVING TOWARDS A WATER-RESILIENT FUTURE: “Given the New Normal of floods and droughts in BC, we are at one of those ‘watershed moments’ in time where we need to challenge folks to elevate their horizons. We are at a tipping point. Will we adapt? Will we get it right? Will we restore balance to the water cycle?” – Kim Stephens, Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, at the Annual Conference of Engineers & Geoscientists BC (October 2018)


    Kim Stephens quoted the author Eva Kras: “Our present global and societal problem is that short-term thinking governs much of what we do. In many organizations, the long-term view has somehow become excluded over many generations. We need to re-learn basically ‘how we think’, using both the right (long-term) and left (short-term) hemispheres of our brain. Both are important, but the sad part is that we have convinced ourselves that the Left Hemisphere can do EVERYTHING.”

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    BUILD A VISION, CREATE A LEGACY: “In the final analysis, the objective may not be to restore all urban watersheds. Rather, achievable and affordable performance targets for improving individual watershed health will be set as part of a stakeholder visioning process,” wrote Erik Karlsen in a co-authored article (FreshOutlook Magazine, February 2002)


    “Fundamental change in the scope of rainwater/stormwater planning, development standards, construction and operations will only happen if there is a broad understanding as to why the changes are needed, what they are, and how they can be practically implemented,” wrote Erik Karlsen. “Publicly-supported decision-makers will determine the timing and phasing of change. The ability of consumers and the development community to adapt will then set the pace of change. Success in one area will be transferred to others. The full benefits of these changes will be realized decades from now.”

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    RECONNECT PEOPLE, LAND AND WATER IN ALTERED LANDSCAPES: “Together we keep raising our game. And so do our collaborators. Shared successes leads to more successes. There is a track record to continue building upon.” – A Short History of The Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia (November 2020)


    Lynn Kriwoken played an instrumental role in the creation and launching of the Water Sustainability Action Plan in February 2004. A true visionary, she immediately saw the value of the an advisory group to government at a time when BC was in transition after the 2001 election. Her advocacy within government got the ball rolling and resulted in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Without Lynn Kriwoken, there would not have been an Action Plan. It really is that simple.

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