CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PERIOD FROM 2006 THRU 2011: “The Partnership for Water Sustainability showed their value-add to the Province as an implementation arm for Living Water Smart,” stated Lynn Kriwoken, Executive Director and Living Water Smart champion in the Ministry of Environment from 2005 thru 2020
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 February 24, 2026 featured the fourth installment of the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver. Part D covers the period 2006 through 2011. This sweeping 116-page narrative weaves quotable quotes to provide the reader with a sense of the level of activity and how this activity generated green infrastructure momentum in the Metro Vancouver region.
How would the Metro Vancouver region absorb another one million people and remain livable? That was the defining question in the 2000s. The Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation brings to life an exciting period in local government “convening for action” history. There was critical mass to implement changes in development practices.
The following extract is from Section 1 of Part D and is the 3rd in a set of 4 extracts. Section 1 is titled Learn by Doing, Adapt to Create Livable Communities.
A UNIFYING THEME FOR 2006-2011: When everything is in alignment, anything is possible
“With the election of Gordon Campbell as Premier, BC’s top decision-maker was a ‘water champion’ whose interests encompassed the vision for the Water Sustainability Action Plan. We could only do what we did in Metro Vancouver in the 2000s because political will and support cascaded from Province to region to local,” wrote Kim Stephens, author of the Green Infrastructure Chronicle and Executive Director with the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC.
Water Sustainability Action Plan informed provincial policy through the shared responsibility model
“The Water Sustainability Action Plan provided an umbrella for demonstration initiatives and projects that then informed development of the Province’s policy framework for Living Water Smart and Green Communities. Grounded in the world of local government, this work carried forward and built on the legacy of the Georgia Basin Initiative.”
Create Livable Communities, Protect Stream Health:
“This mantra framed the desired outcome when we convened for action. In Metro Vancouver, the “streams and trees component” of the region’s LWMP provided the regulatory driver to learn by doing and adapt. With the perspective of time, we can see that this was the golden period.”
“Cascading factors essential to delivering desired outcomes were all in alignment. Most of all, the period is characterized by political will and commitment to take action. Without that, nothing could have happened,” concludes Kim Stephens.
“The Partnership for Water Sustainability showed their value-add to the Province as an implementation arm for Living Water Smart. They were able to fill a gap with the convening for action program,” explains Lynn Kriwoken.
“Living Water Smart was broad sweeping. The Province did not have the capacity to implement everything at once. We had to put our investment in what was needed badly…an update of the legislative framework.”
Powered by political commitment, 2006 through 2011 was the golden period for convening for action
“In 2008, the recession was not a great time to introduce Living Water Smart, a lofty water plan. We knew that rather than spread ourselves too thin, we had to hunker down. We focused our efforts on legislative reform and what would become the Water Sustainability Act,” recalls Lynn Kriwoken.
“When Johnny Carline restructured Metro Vancouver Regional District, he implemented an integrated and transformative approach. This eliminated boundaries, made the connection between the planning function of local government and water resource management, and enabled collaboration,” wrote Kim Stephens.
To Learn More:
Waterbucket eNews stories are structured in three parts: One-Minute Takeaway, Editor’s Perspective and Context for Busy Reader, and the Story Behind the Story. To read the complete 3-part storyline, download a PDF copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Learn by doing, and adapt to create livable communities – convening for action in Metro Vancouver.
DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/wcp/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2026/01/PWSBC_Living-Water-Smart_Kim-Stephens-on-Learning-by-Doing-Part-D_2025.pdf