23 – LESSONS FROM THE PAST INFORM THE FUTURE IN METRO VANCOUVER: Draft Interim Liquid Waste Management Plan is the springboard to a re-set and course correction in 2025
Note to Reader:
In November 2024, the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia released THE SYNOPSIS for the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver. The Chronicle is a sweeping narrative of the 30-year period from 1994 through 2024. The Chronicle is a layered package comprising four documents: the Chronicle of the Journey, Stories Within the Story, Synopsis and Executive Summary. The target audience for each layer is different.
The Synopsis is the third layer in the cascade. It is oriented to senior managers who have limited time to absorb what they need to know to make informed decisions. The Synopsis is visual and so can easily be skimmed in 20 minutes or less! Pages S38 and S39 in the Synopsis form the basis for this story.
Knowing What We Know, Now What?
“It was a culminating moment in a 3-year process when Metro Vancouver’s Liquid Waste Committee met in November 2024 and passed this resolution: That the Board endorse the interim draft Liquid Waste Management Plan and authorize staff to proceed with phase three of the plan’s review and update process,” wrote Kim Stephens, Synopsis author and Partnership Executive Director.
Draft Interim Liquid Waste Management Plan
“With the climate changing and atmospheric rivers making things more and more challenging, we need to restore balance to rainwater management in our region,” stated Peter Navratil in his summary presentation to close the workshop with the Liquid Waste Committee on October 30, 2024.
“When we built cities, greenspace was paved and pipes handled all that drainage. Our reliance on pipes and streams is proving to be inadequate in view of new, heavy patterns of rainfall that we are beginning to see. Those two tools aren’t enough.”
“A balance with engineering natural solutions is emerging. A lot of municipalities are doing it. More work and more sustained momentum is required. The plan recommends that each municipality establish some form of sustainable funding program.”
“The plan would revitalize our stormwater interagency liaison with a terms of reference that invites First Nations to that table. The program would also study impacts of densification so that we can make informed decisions on the urban growth that we are experiencing, and it would establish a modest central repository for water balance information sharing.”
Committee endorsement of Draft Interim LWMP is a first step towards overcoming memory loss
“Several weeks earlier, the Election Day Flood was a teachable moment that primed the committee’s decision. Because the new LWMP focuses on reducing demands at source – which means rainwater runoff – it has key elements for a re-set and course correction in 2025,” observes Kim Stephens.
“On election day in British Columbia, an atmospheric river deluged Metro Vancouver and parts of the province’s south coast. Flooding was widespread across the Lower Mainland. The storm caused more than $110 million in insured damaged according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, reported the Canadian Press on November 15, 2024. On top of this are the flood costs incurred by local governments.”
“I contributed to that special 3-hour workshop meeting of the Liquid Waste Committee on October 30, 2024. In my remarks, I stressed that we could learn from Indigenous peoples. They understand that water and land are inseparable just like you cannot separate blood from the body. But we have forgotten that.”
“I closed on a note of optimism: Experience in the 2000s demonstrates the benefits and impact when the Metro Vancouver Regional District has a budget plus plays a leadership role in facilitating a regional team approach, one that strives for livable communities while protecting people, property and habitat.”
“Under phase three, the Liquid Waste Management Plan will be shared with municipal councils and First Nations councils to gather additional comments before the Board’s final approval to submit the LWMP to the Province in 2025,” explains Kim Stephens.
Framework for a course correction within a revitalized LWMP
“In the 2000s, the Metro Vancouver region was viewed by many as a beacon of inspiration. Could lightning strike twice? Could the region re-emerge as a beacon of inspiration? Of course it could. But it will come down to whether the right people are in the room at the right time, and whether they can learn from and build on past experience.”
“The image (below) synthesizes four outcomes that provide a framework for a re-set and course correction for the streams and trees and Drainage Service component of a revitalized LWMP,” concluded Kim Stephens.
To Learn More:
Download a copy of the Synopsis of the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver from 1994 through 2024. released in November 2024. The Synopsis is structured as six sections.
DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/gi/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/11/Metro-Van-Chronicle_Synopsis_DRAFT_Nov2024.pdf