Green Infrastructure

“Commencing with a launch announcement by the BC Minister of Environment in 2005, this community-of-practice has served an important function as the home for green infrastructure in British Columbia. Originally created to support the work of the Green Infrastructure Partnership, the community-of-practice now has a dual focus in supporting two interconnected initiatives, that is: EAP, the Ecological Accounting Process: and Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery in BC, which is led by Asset Management BC,” stated Mike Tanner, Waterbucket Chair.

“In 2016, the Partnership embarked upon a 6-year program of applied research to evolve EAP through a 3-stage building blocks process of testing, refining, and mainstreaming the methodology and metrics for financial valuation of stream systems. The program involved 9 case studies and 13 local governments and yielded 19 “big ideas” or foundational concepts. The program goal was to answer the question, how much should communities budget each year for maintenance and management of stream systems,” stated Tim Pringle.

During the period 2003 through 2010, the Green Infrastructure Partnership played a prominent role in leading change and assisting with implementation of the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia, primarily in the Metro Vancouver region. “I see my years of chairing the GIP as helping to get the ball rolling and ideas disseminated, on green infrastructure, all of which has subsequently been taken up by others to a much greater degree of implementation and success. Our efforts a decade ago moved the state of-the-art of green infrastructure to a more mainstream level,” said Paul Ham.

In 2007, the first Beyond the Guidebook guidance document provided a clear distinction between natural and engineered green infrastructure. “Two complementary strategies can ‘green’ a community and its infrastructure: first, preserving as much as possible of the natural green infrastructure; and secondly, promoting designs that soften the footprint of development,” wrote Susan Rutherford. “Green infrastructure design is engineering design that takes a ‘design with nature’ approach, to both mitigate the potential impacts of existing and future development and growth and to provide valuable services.”

“The EAP Partnership was set up in a really unique, really valuable and viable way right from the beginning. The Partnership for Water Sustainability made the connections to the three local governments. Vancouver Island University, as a smaller university, is very focused on applied research and community engagement. This is a good fit for the EAP mission. There are lots of partnerships that exist for selfish reasons. But the EAP Partnership is selfless, and from all angles. It is a leap of faith for member local governments. Partnership for Water Sustainability commitment to passing the baton is unwavering,” stated Graham Sakaki.

“In my mind, the phrase Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery is a euphemism for make the right decisions, think about the future, and then take action. It has got to evolve because the future is NOT the past. We also need to adapt moving forward. So, that means Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery has got to reflect where the community is going as well. If you are only going to make decisions that maintain your assets as they are, that is insufficient. The process needs to evolve to meet the community’s changing needs,” stated Geoff Garbutt.

“Alignment of efforts with Wally Wells has been key to elevating Water Sustainability and Asset Management as top-of-mind priorities for local governments. The two priorities are inextricably linked, and our efforts are complementary in facilitating peer-to-peer learning across boundaries. Beginning in January 2011, Asset Management BC published the first of 26 articles contributed by the Partnership to the quarterly newsletter edited by Wally. These have connected the dots between sustainable service delivery and water sustainability,” stated Kim Stephens.

“Our discussions lead to an expanded common vocabulary. Sustainable Service Delivery, Eco-Assets and Eco-Asset Management, the Ecological Accounting Process, Municipal Natural Asset Inventory, Riparian Deficit, and watershed stewardship are some of the words in our new common tongue. The rabid environmentalist, the cold-hearted accountant and the aloof engineer could come together and focus on a common goal – Water Balance. At a very key level, it is about our relationship with water and with each other. We design and build our communities based on our relationship to water,” stated Paul Chapman.

“I am a project person. I come from a project background and am used to the stages of a project – from conception through budgeting, procurement, construction, and commissioning. It is a very structured spectrum of activities. There is a defined beginning and end. But that is not the way it is in the world of water stewardship. It is a bit like a creek. It just meanders all over the place such that you just cannot seem to get things to completion even when the process is a good one. You learn that this is what it means to be on a journey,” stated Marc Rutten.

The 2014 investigation and Striking a Balance report by the BC Ombudsperson identified “significant gaps between the process the provincial government had established when the Riparian Areas Protection Regulation was enacted and the level of oversight that was actually in place.” Erik Karlsen was concerned about the Ombudsperson’s findings. In 2015, he created a matrix to explain how to integrate two foundational concepts – Daniel Pauly’s “Shifting Baseline Syndrome” and Richard Horner and Chris May’s “Road Map for Protecting Stream System Integrity” – that provide a path forward for restoring riparian integrity.

Harvy Takhar is following his passion in unexpected ways. It led him down the green roof pathway to international recognition. He had an epiphany when he recognized there was a gap in green roof engineering. “The idea was to harvest the benefits of green roofs, while keeping them healthy by storing water considering most green roofs adversely affect building systems during the drought. So we added a water cavity, known as the blue roof component, that will feed the green roof portion with capillary irrigation, and it can draw water when it needs it,” says Harvy Takhar.

A theme dominating the news these days is the shortage of skilled, trained or qualified people. The EAP Partnership is part of the solution in the local government setting. Investing in people takes patience, commitment and time. There is no shortcut to build in-house capacity. The partners have committed to investing in youth at Vancouver Island University so that they have the understanding to apply EAP. “We are applying EAP to relatively small scale streams to illustrate its usefulness and effectiveness. The application of EAP will grow from there, I am sure,” stated Murray Walters.

“There are lots of partnerships that exist for selfish reasons. But the EAP Partnership is selfless; and from all angles. It is a leap of faith for member local governments. Partnership for Water Sustainability commitment to passing the baton is unwavering. Vancouver Island University is all-in because EAP is an idea that can change the game. And students are excited to contribute to the change. Students will be creating a portfolio of professionals who they know. These are important relationships for them to make. And they are gaining important knowledge too,” stated Graham Sakaki.

“A key consideration is intergenerational equity. This is finding the right balance between spreading the cost of services over citizens who benefit now and in the future without burdening future generations with the inability to sustain services. It is a core responsibility of a Council – enshrined in BC’s Community Charter – to provide for the stewardship of the public assets of the community.. It’s critical to ensure we are facing the right direction. Our role is to leave our communities a better place than we found them and pass the torch to the next generation,” stated Bill Sims.