Tag:

Peter Law

    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: In 2023, history repeated itself in the Kelowna region” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in September 2023


    “Mother Nature has an amazing sense of timing. On the 20th anniversary of the evacuation of 27,000 people from Kelowna due to forest fires, history repeated itself in August in the Kelowna region, in particular West Kelowna. We have had two decades to prepare for the obvious and the inevitable. 2003 was the first of a series of teachable years, with the full onslaught of a changing climate hitting hard as of 2015. Climate change is accelerating. There is no time to re-invent the wheel, fiddle, or go down cul-de-sacs. Understand how the past informs the future and build on that experience,” stated Kim Stephens.

    Read Article

    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Healthy Waters Program for salmon, whales, and people” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in May 2023


    “The new Healthy Waters program will support sampling and analysis for a variety of contaminants of concern at up to 12 flagship BC watersheds. We will engage, share and train Indigenous community members, conservation teams and local authorities, thereby leveraging capacity in support of water quality monitoring and stewardship. The program aims to monitor water quality, effectively documenting water contaminants from the mountains to the sea,” stated Dr. Peter Ross.

    Read Article

    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Erik Karlsen and the Streamside Protection Regulation” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in May 2023


    During the period 1996 through 2001, the BC government tasked Erik Karlsen with the lead role in developing the wording of an Order in Council to enact Section 12 of the Fish Protection Act. It was a unique position, as this legislation was a Ministry of Environment initiative, but led by Erik, who was the Director of Regional Growth Strategies in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. Over a period of two years, Erik Karlsen chaired a committee of experts in a process that focused on the science, the policies, the costs, the benefits with a goal of gaining consensus from all sectors.

    Read Article

    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Shelly Creek in Parksville is a “living laboratory” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in April 2023


    Peter Law has put his time and energy into Shelly Creek, as do many other stream stewards in their watersheds around BC, such that Shelly Creek has become a “living laboratory” for the local Parksville community to enjoy. “Enhanced riparian greenways like Shelly Creek Park allow fish to survive in natural conditions without encroachment issues. That 1990s decision to create an enhanced linear park showed great foresight. The proof of the pudding is that it saved the resident Cutthroat trout population during the heat dome and extreme drought of 2021,” stated Peter Law.

    Read Article

    DOWNLOAD A COPY OF: “Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Land Development and Watershed Protection Can Be Compatible” – released by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in June 2022


    “When the inter-ministry working group was developing the Streamside Protection Regulation in 1997, a presentation on the science of land use change by Kim Stephens and Bill Derry helped us realize that we needed more than a setback to protect aquatic habitat. The science showed that communities also needed to tackle what was happening on the land that drains to streams. For the Guidebook path, I found the opportunity to “look beyond the stream” and address poor water quality from drainage runoff in the Waste Management Act. The opportunity resided in the non-point source provision for Liquid Waste Management Plans,” stated Peter Law.

    Read Article

    FLASHBACK TO 1997: “Looking back, British Columbia’s Fish Protection Act was both a defining moment and a call to action. The consultation process led directly to the SmartStorm Forum Series. Guided by a vision for an ecosystem-based approach to land and water development, the series set in motion a chain of events. Their outcomes reverberated and have rippled through time,” stated Kim Stephens, Partnership for Water Sustainability (1st in a series / January 2021)


    “I recall quite clearly that Erik Karlsen and Peter Law were sitting to our right as Bill Derry and I spoke impromptu to the ‘fish pictures’. It caught my attention how animated they were as they kept turning to each other during Bill and my presentation. When we finished, Erik was the first to speak. ‘At last,’ he said, ‘we have the science that explains the relationship between changes in land use and the consequences for stream health’. Little did I realize in the moment that my life was about to change. Nor did I realize how profoundly Erik Karlsen would influence my career direction,” recalled Kim Stephens.

    Read Article