TIER ONE CHAMPION FOR AN ECOSYSTEM-BASED APPROACH IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: The Ministry of Agriculture’s Ted van der Gulik initiated and led the inter-governmental Water Balance Model Partnership because the water balance consequences of urbanization in the uplands are felt in the agricultural lowlands!
Two game-changing provincial water tools for use in different settings are part of Ted van der Gulik’s incredible legacy. One is the Agricultural Water Demand Model suite of tools; the other is the urban-centric Water Balance Model for BC. “What exactly is it that we want to do? With the answer to that question clear in our minds, we can work backwards and figure out the steps in a plan to make it happen,” states Ted van der Gulik. That bold way of thinking and doing is the context for Ted’s actions in bringing together an inter-governmental partnership.
INCREASED FREQUENCY, MAGNITUDE, DURATION AND LIABILITY OF FLOODS: “A forest’s influence on flooding stems from the many random or ‘chancy’ features in a watershed. And when something is chancy, this requires a deeper understanding of Nature,” stated Dr. Younes Alila, professional engineer and professor in the UBC Faculty of Forestry
“Thinking like a system means you do not make decisions at the site scale. It is not about a particular stream reach or cross-section, or a bridge or a culvert. You need to step back and look at the big picture. You need to look at the entire stream network and what these flows are doing over time an in the landscape of the watershed. It is not just that the forest owes its causal power to the landscape features. The hydrological response of the landscape owes its power to the landscape feature and to the climate feature. That’s the space-time relationship, stated Younes Alila.
ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY: “Communities of Practice are the informal “by-us-for-us” meetings where asset management practitioners learn together, exchange ideas, and support one another’s growth,” wrote the City of Abbotsford’s Gracelyn (Winter 2025 issue of Asset Management BC Newsletter)
“Arnold Schwabe and Michael Wall held the first regional Community of Practice in 2016, and I was lucky enough to attend. I was 22 years old, an Asset Management Coordinator, and new to local governments. Arnold and Michael created a space where we could all speak frankly about asset management practice in our respective communities. It was such a positive experience that I excitedly offered to host the next meeting. Over time, regional Communities of Practice grew in BC. Southern Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland hosted meetings,” stated Gracelyn.
HISTORY OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “The Partnership for Water Sustainability is the keeper of the Green Infrastructure Partnership legacy,” stated Paul Ham, a Past-Chair
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. “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 in the first decade of the 2000s moved the state of-the-art of green infrastructure to a more mainstream level,” said Paul Ham.
HISTORY OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Green infrastructure design is engineering design that takes a ‘design with nature’ approach, to mitigate the potential impacts of existing and future development,” stated Susan Rutherford, author of the Green Infrastructure Guide published by West Coast Environmental Law in 2007
The desire to mitigate environmental impacts provided a driver for a ‘green infrastructure’ movement that is water-centric and is founded on a natural systems approach. 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.
HISTORY OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: “The Green Infrastructure community-of practice on the Partnership’s waterbucket.ca website supplements the communication capacity of Asset Management BC by providing a platform to support our shared vision for the BC Framework for Asset Management for Sustainable Service Delivery,” stated Kim Stephens, Partnership for Water Sustainability Executive Director
“Collaboration between the Partnership and Asset Management BC is a success story because it is relationship-based and founded on respect and trust. The genesis for operationalizing both the Partnership and Asset Management BC in 2010, and for our shared commitment to collaboration, is a mandate to implement action items spelled out in Living Water Smart. We embrace and commit to Shared Responsibility in order to move ideas and approaches forward through the 4Cs – Communicate, Cooperate, Collaborate, Coordinate,” stated Kim Stephens.
REIMAGINE URBAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AS AN ECOSYSTEM: “My research is the first systematic review of the use and definition of the green infrastructure concept in local government plans in the United States,” stated Zbigniew Grabowski, principal author of ‘What is green infrastructure? A study of definitions in US city planning’
“Many plans fail to explicitly define green infrastructure. How it is defined guides the types of projects that local governments implement, with enduring impacts to people and the urban environment. Ecology is not really being embedded in any planning practice. This realization turned my attention towards this question…how do you embed ecosystem science and principles within landscape planning to conserve landscapes, ecological functions, and quality? My work is about a new paradigm that moves away from humans as separate from nature,” stated Zbigniew Grabowski.
CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER – PART B:“Despite the population density that we have had to accommodate, and the ongoing growth due to the demand for housing, we have to set land aside for community livability,” stated Rémi Dubé, former Director of the City of Surrey’s Building Division
The intergenerational nature of drainage experience and evolution in Surrey is unique in the Metro Vancouver region. The city had a 25-yr head start on other BC municipalities. And there has been staff continuity over a 50-yr period. By 2009, Surrey had evolved from pilot projects to setting watershed-based objectives and targets. “The Biodiversity Development Cost Charge Bylaw for acquiring and enhancing land in stream corridors has been in place since 2019. Surrey is the only municipality that has one. The work to create the DCC was initiated many years before,” stated Rémi Dubé.
ABOUT THE INTERVIEWS WITH GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INFLUENCERS IN METRO VANCOUVER REGION: “It is the Gen X who are most likely to now possess the knowledge but are overwhelmed by the Gen Y generation who do not have this knowledge,” stated Robert Hicks, career engineer-planner in the Metro Vancouver region
“An underlying issue for local government is knowledge-transfer. The baby boomers have more or less retired and now you are left with Gen X. But many Boomers continued in senior positions late into their careers, interrupting the chain of succession and knowledge transfer. What we are really saying is that, in the work force, a huge amount of experience has just gone out the door and very quickly. Solutions to complex problems require deep knowledge. The challenge facing local governments is the breakdown in the transfer of knowledge,” stated Robert Hicks.
ABOUT THE INTERVIEWS WITH GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INFLUENCERS IN METRO VANCOUVER REGION: “Storytelling is as much of a lever for action as anything technical that we as practitioners learn,” stated Ray Fung, a past-chair of the Green Infrastructure Partnership
“Stories open our minds to considering various viewpoints. Sharing of stories leads to reconciliation and building relationships, respect and trust,” stated Ray Fung. The stories for 13 green infrastructure influencers in the Metro Vancouver region provide context and a frame of reference for understanding as well as judging green infrastructure progress by Metro Vancouver municipalities over the past quarter-century. The stories behind the stories of the influencers set the stage for successive legs of the green infrastructure journey from 1997 to 2024.