Community Values Drive Responsible Waste and Resource Management in Metro Vancouver

Blog by Susan Rutherford

On May 21, 2010, Metro Vancouver adopted the Integrated Liquid Waste & Resource Management Plan, an updated plan for managing the region’s wastewater (generated by homes, businesses and industry), and rainwater and snowmelt runoff.  The plan has been billed as “precedent setting”.

Two years in the making, the Plan establishes the framework for moving beyond regulatory compliance to transitioning Metro Vancouver to an approach where management of liquid discharges and rainwater resources is planned and implemented within a broader, sustainability framework.

West Coast Environmental Law made an important contribution to the development of this precedent-setting Plan, as a member of the 10-member advisory Liquid Waste Management Plan Reference Panel (an advisory panel set up to report directly to the Metro Board).  The plan still needs to be adopted by Metro Vancouver’s members, and approved by the Ministry of Environment before it will have legal effect.

To Learn More:

To read the complete article by Susan Rutherford, click on “It Takes a Whole Community Pulling Together”. Susan represented West Coast on the Reference Panel. To download a copy, click here.