Green Infrastructure

CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER – PART C – FOR THE PERIOD 1997-2005: “There was tension between stakeholders. Yet the productiveness of those dialogues inspired a lot of professionals, myself included, to dig deeper and find solutions and learn. You felt like you were part of a movement,” stated Susan Haid, career environmental and urban planner with regional and local governments in Metro Vancouver

October 28, 2025 - Posted in Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver (1994-2024), The Journey is Chronicled in Six Parts

Note to Reader:

Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. Stories are structured in three parts: One-Minute Takeaway, Editor’s Perspective, and the Story Behind the Story.

The edition published on October 28, 2025 featured the third installment of the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver. Part C covers the period 1997 through 2005. This sweeping narrative weaves quotable quote to tell the story of what led up to publication of Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia in 2002, and the impact of what followed in the wake of publication.

ONE MINUTE TAKEAWAY for the extremely busy reader

The Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver is a sweeping narrative. It brings to life an exciting period in local government “convening for action” history. There was critical mass to implement changes in development practices. The context for action was the need to accommodate an extra million people by Year 2030 yet preserve regional livability.

Build a network to foster innovation

The Chronicle is an easy read. Think of it as an oral history for the past three decades. The interested reader can quickly scroll through it and get a sense of an era. Heavy on images and light on text, the Chronicle weaves a storyline using quotable quotes that reveal the stories behind the story. With this edition of Waterbucket eNews, we release Part C. It covers years 1997 through 2005.

Why the stories behind the story as told in the Green Infrastructure Chronicle matter today

Circa 2000, drainage was a galvanizing issue. It was front-and-centre in the movement for sustainable development and regional livability. A large cast of characters was involved. Many were introduced in Parts A and B of this chronicle. The salmon crisis was the catalyst for action. Salmon survival is much like the canary in the coal mine as an early warning sign of danger.

Images are mostly from the Partnership’s library. Some are from the public domain and Creative Commons.

EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE / CONTEXT FOR BUSY READER

“My connection to Dancing with the Tiger is that my work at UniverCity on Burnaby Mountain is featured in Chapter 7. To successfully dance with the tiger and create transformational change, you simply must get a flagship project across the finish line. Nothing less matters,” stated Kim Stephens, Waterbucket eNews Editor and Partnership Executive Director.

A once in a lifetime opportunity

THE CONUNDRUM: How to resolve competing priorities and preserve regional livability

STORY BEHIND THE STORY OF THE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE CHRONICLE: Leaps of faith and calculated risks – convening for action in Metro Vancouver

The Green Infrastructure Chronicle covers the period between 1994 and 2024. At 700-plus pages, it is a tome. By definition, tome means it is both unusually large and unusually important. The Chronicle is oral history and the storyline is a work-in-progress because we are moving along a continuum.

With 2026 coming soon, how the next five to ten years play out depends on whether and how effectively municipalities adapt to implement the “streams and trees component” of the Metro Vancouver region’s updated Integrated Liquid Waste and Resource Management Plan. It is an essential piece of the strategy for ensuring a livable region and thus quality of life.

HISTORY AT A GLANCE: Convening for action in the Georgia Basin between 1997 and 2005

In the late 1990s, drainage was a galvanizing issue for sustainable development. The Fish Protection Act had changed the game. The cumulative impacts of land use changes on stream health were proven. Implementation of streamside protection regulation was a work-in-progress. Content for the Stormwater Planning Guidebook was being developed through case studies.

COLOUR CODE: yellow is Georgia Basin in scope and white is specific to Metro Vancouver

GOAL: Reconcile Competing Priorities

Part C chronicles what led up to publication of Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia in 2002, and the impact of what followed in the wake of publication.

QUOTABLE QUOTES: Peer-based sharing and learning the driver for convening for action

TABLE OF CONTENTS: for Chronicle and for Part C

Part C is structured in ten segments to tell the stories behind the story for the years between 1997 and 2005. It provides the reader with a sense of how energy released by the Georgia Basin Initiative in the mid-1990s began to play out consequentially in the Metro Vancouver region.