Green Infrastructure

CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER – PART D – FOR THE PERIOD 2006-2011: When CAO Johnny Carline restructured the Metro Vancouver Regional District, he eliminated the boundaries between planning and implementation. Driven by broader values, this made the connection between the planning function of local government and water resource management.

February 24, 2026 - 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 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 narrative weaves quotable quote 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.

ONE MINUTE TAKEAWAY for the extremely busy reader

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 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.

Build a network to foster innovation

Heavy on images and light on text, the Chronicle weaves a storyline using quotable quotes that reveal the stories behind the story. The Chronicle is an oral history for the past three decades. With this edition of Waterbucket eNews, we release Part D. It covers years 2006 through 2011.

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

It was a defining period for making a difference regionally through the power of collaboration, partnerships, and alignment of levels of government. Energy released by the Georgia Basin Initiative in the mid-1990s played out consequentially through the 2000s in the Metro Vancouver region.

EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE / CONTEXT FOR BUSY READER

“In the 2000s, the Province and the Real Estate Foundation of BC jointly funded my role as program coordinator for the Water Sustainability Action Plan for BC. My responsibility was to bring together individuals and organizations in the Lower Mainland, on Vancouver Island and in the Okanagan to form partnerships, collaborate and convene for action. It was a bold undertaking,” stated Kim Stephens, Waterbucket eNews Editor and Partnership Executive Director.

“The vision for a regional team approach to implementing the New Business As Usual inspired audiences. Momentum kept building. So much so, that we framed what we were doing as MISSION POSSIBLE. By 2010, we had good reason to celebrate the moment. BC was clearly at a tipping point.”

Settlement, Economy and Ecology in Balance is Mission Possible

“The regional team approach delivered results across boundaries in Southwest BC. Political will and collaboration powered mission possible in the 2000s.”

Political will and support cascaded from Province to region to local

Convening for action in Metro Vancouver as the Green Infrastructure Partnership

In the Metro Vancouver, we convened as the Green Infrastructure Partnership. On Vancouver Island, we convened as CAVI-Leadership in Water Sustainability. A critical success factor was the cross-pollination between the two initiatives. We built on what we learned through the Convening for Action in the South Okanagan pilot. The building blocks process was inter-regional in scope.

BEYOND THE GUIDEBOOK 2010: Implementing a New Culture for Urban Watershed Protection and Restoration in British Columbia

Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for BC ushered in the view of rainwater runoff as a resource to be respected. By 2010, we believed that BC was at a tipping point. Implementation of a new culture for urban watershed protection and restoration seemed within our grasp. By explaining how we had arrived at this tipping point, Beyond the Guidebook 2010 added depth to the Guidebook.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY OF THE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE CHRONICLE: learn by doing, and adapt to create livable communities – 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.

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 2006 and 2011

In the 2000s, drainage was a galvanizing issue for sustainable development. The cumulative impacts of land use changes on stream function were proven. Implementation of streamside protection regulation was a fact of life. We understood how to turn problems into solutions.

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

Two unifying threads weave through Part D. Thread One was that the provincial government provided green infrastructure leadership during this period, with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs mantra being: Today’s expectations are tomorrow’s standards.

Thread Two was the regulatory requirement that Metro Vancouver municipalities develop integrated plans pursuant to the rainwater (i.e. streams and trees) component of the region’s Integrated Liquid Waste and Resource Management Plan. This provided a reason for convening for action!

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

UNTOLD STORY: Incorporation of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in November 2010

The inaugural REFBC Land Awards Gala on November 18, 2010 is the event of record for the formal announcement about incorporation of the Partnership as a legal entity. What few know is that Premier Gordon Campbell was originally scheduled to make the announcement. But it was not to be because he resigned as premier on November 3, 2010.

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it

“Collaboration is essential. We also have to bring people together. If we find a common purpose that we are pursuing together, there really is nothing that we cannot accomplish,” exhorted Premier Campbell.

“Look long term. Think about what is best for the future. Not for you, but for those who will follow you. Think about how we can create a better environment that others can live in and benefit from.”

“We get to make our own choices. We get to make our own future. We just have to have the vision to imagine, and the tenacity to pursue it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

TABLE OF CONTENTS: for Chronicle and for Part D

Part D is structured in twelve segments to tell the stories behind the story for the years between 2006 and 2011. It provides the reader with a sense of the level of activity and how this activity generated green infrastructure momentum in the Metro Vancouver region.