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Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver (1994-2024)

18 – LESSONS FROM THE PAST INFORM THE FUTURE IN METRO VANCOUVER: Stream Health in Metro Vancouver Region


“Both the Metro research in the late 1990s and the current EAP research are spatial analyses. With hindsight, I can say that Metro was ahead of its time and got it right with the RFI index but let it slip away,” stated Tim Pringle. “EAP deals with parcels which is as spatial as you can get. The EAP process allows local governments to transcend the numbers and explore the financial impact of land development choices.”

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19 – LESSONS FROM THE PAST INFORM THE FUTURE IN METRO VANCOUVER: Passing of the intergenerational baton


“Vancouver Island University is all-in because the Ecological Accounting Process is an idea that can change the game with respect to protection or restoration of riparian integrity along streams. The strategy ensures that knowledge is retained at an institutional level, that is, VIU. Students are excited to contribute to the change. We will be continuously training youth to apply the EAP methodology,” stated Graham Sakaki.

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20 – LESSONS FROM THE PAST INFORM THE FUTURE IN METRO VANCOUVER: Communities need annual budgets to tackle Riparian Deficits along streams


“Asset management is a process for sustainable service delivery. The BC Framework is designed as a wheel as there is a beginning but no end to the process, The role of natural assets in our communities is not well understood. As the AMBC Primer published in 2019 shows, significant work has been done on the integration of natural assets into the overall asset management program,” stated Wally Wells.

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21 – LESSONS FROM THE PAST INFORM THE FUTURE IN METRO VANCOUVER: With new political commitment, rebuild the coalition


“What combination of public self-interest and political lever will it take to effect change? One of my legacy projects illustrates leveraging a political moment to make a difference. My story is about why we got commitment to implement a universal water metering program. Self-interest plus political commitment was more persuasive than language about equity, efficiency and water conservation benefits,” stated Ray Fung.

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22 – LESSONS FROM THE PAST INFORM THE FUTURE IN METRO VANCOUVER: How do we accommodate more people, ensure livable communities, protect stream health?


“Every generation is handed a world that has been shaped by their predecessors – and then seemingly forgets that fact. This blind spot is the reason why a baseline creeps imperceptibly over generations. We transform the world, but we don’t remember it. We adjust our baseline to the new level, and we don’t recall what was there. At the end you want to sustain miserable leftovers,” stated Daniel Pauly.

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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


The latest version of the updated plan was presented to the Liquid Waste Committee in a workshop on October 30, 2024. The feedback was positive, and the workshop participants supported the overall direction of the plan. “The committee motion on November 13, 2024 to endorse the interim draft Liquid Waste Management Plan moves us into phase three of the plan’s review and update process,” stated Peter Navratil.

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24 – LESSONS FROM THE PAST INFORM THE FUTURE IN METRO VANCOUVER: Timeline and milestones for the living legacy of the Georgia Basin Initiative


“The timeline provides a perspective on the Partnership’s commitment to support local government champions who strive to achieve a Watershed Health Legacy. This means apply science-based understanding to develop tools and establish precedents. Learn from experience to successfully implement, through collaboration, an environmentally adaptive approach to community design,” stated Kim Stephens.

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CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER: “The target audience for the Synopsis are senior managers in local government who have limited time to absorb what they need to know to make informed decisions about rainwater management, green infrastructure and stream function,” explained Kim Stephens when the Partnership for Water Sustainability released the Synopsis for the Green Infrastructure Chronicle (November 2024)


“The Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation totals close to 700 pages. It is a tome! Heavy on images and light on text, it is written to serve as a ‘legacy resource’ for the past three decades. To facilitate knowledge transfer, the Chronicle is a layered package comprising four documents. The layered approach is two-way. In one direction, it distils as it cascades. In the other, it delves deeper. The Synopsis is the third layer in the cascade. The Synopsis is visual and so can easily be skimmed in 20 minutes or less. We will release the Chronicle tome in 2025.,” stated Kim Stephens.

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CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER: “Lessons from the past inform the future. The region’s Draft Interim Liquid Waste Management Plan provides the springboard to a re-set and course correction in 2025,” stated Kim Stephens, Partnership for Water Sustainability (7th installment in a preview series)


“Nine cascading factors must all be in alignment to implement a course correction. All it takes is one factor to be out of alignment and that can be enough to derail a process and progress. At the top of the list is political leadership and commitment. Nothing can happen unless and until an elected leader emerges as THE CHAMPION. The good news is that the region has taken a critical first step. In November, the region’s elected representatives endorsed the Draft Interim Liquid Waste Management Plan. I am optimistic and the path forward looks promising,’ stated Kim Stephens.

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CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER: “Is our food security slipping away in British Columbia without anyone noticing? Does anyone care?” – these are questions posed by Ted van der Gulik, President of the Partnership for Water Sustainability, and former Senior Engineer in the Ministry of Agriculture (6th installment in a preview series)


“The fertile Fraser Valley is some of the best farmland in Canada and can grow a lot of the food that we need. To get to food security in BC, we need to increase the irrigated area from 200,000 to 300,000 hectares. If we invest in the infrastructure needed to supply water from the Fraser River, one-third of the additional 100,000 could be provided in the Fraser Valley. But we are slowly losing our land base for growing food. And it is not because land is coming out of the Agricultural Land Reserve. Rather, it is all about what is happening on the land within the ALR,” stated Ted van der Gulik.

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