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Hugh Fraser

    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    ABOUT THE INTERVIEWS WITH GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INFLUENCERS IN METRO VANCOUVER REGION: “We saw rainwater management as something positive. We could grab onto and run with it,” stated Darrell Mussatto, former Mayor of North Vancouver City, and longtime Chair of Metro Vancouver Utilities Committee


    “You get elected and you start to learn. And you become inspired by what you see happening. I remember when the Fish Protection Act passed in 1997. It was a real eye opener for me because it meant a 180-degree change from what I had been thinking. This experience was my context when I served on and later chaired the Metro Vancouver Utilities Committee a decade later. When the region embarked on the first update to the LWMP in 2008, I found it extremely rewarding to be working with people that wanted to do things differently,” stated Darrell Mussatto.

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    ABOUT THE INTERVIEWS WITH GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INFLUENCERS IN METRO VANCOUVER REGION: “With the Fergus plan, we were at a point where we could integrate engineering, planning, biology, geomorphology and recreation to influence the greening of the built environment,” stated Rémi Dubé, a former manager of drainage planning with the City of Surrey


    “Surrey’s Development Cost Charges Bylaw (2019) for the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy did not happen overnight. The framework came out of the Fergus Creek watershed plan and the vision for green solutions many years before in 2006.Fergus was the first of the new generation of ISMPs. Our goal was to avoid a cookie-cutter approach that too often is an outcome of this type of multi-year program. Jim Dumont rose to the innovation challenge by developing a watershed plan that would actually facilitate changes in how land is developed or re-developed,” stated Rémi Dubé.

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    ABOUT THE INTERVIEWS WITH GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INFLUENCERS IN METRO VANCOUVER REGION: What went wrong with the stream systems component after Environment Minister Terry Lakes approved the Metro Vancouver region’s Integrated Liquid Waste and Resource Management Plan in 2011?


    “Metro Vancouver and member municipalities are encouraged to consider how the degree, type and location of land development affects watershed health,” wrote Environment Minister Terry Lake in his letter that formally approved the regional plan. Failure to follow through and build on work done up to 2011 to deal with requirements in his ministerial approval is an unintended outcome. Failure to follow through reflected scant understanding of a stream system context. Land development pressures pushed local governments to pay lip-service to the role of the streamside protection zone.

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    ABOUT THE INTERVIEWS WITH GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INFLUENCERS IN METRO VANCOUVER REGION: “There are leaders and there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or influence. Those who lead inspire us,” stated Simon Sinek, author of ‘Start with Why’


    When read together, the set of 13 stories about green infrastructure influencers in Metro Vancouver paint a picture of what it takes to innovate and lead changes in practice in the local government setting. Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” is a concept that states that to inspire action, you must begin with why you do what you do, before explaining how you do it and what you do. This is based on the belief that purpose, cause, and belief (the “why”) are the most powerful motivators, inspiring loyalty and action in a way that focusing on products or services (the “what”) alone cannot.

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    DELTA’S RAIN GARDEN PROGRAM FOR STREETSCAPE REVITALIZATION: “The road designers are taking the initiative to incorporate linear rain gardens,” stated Harvy Singh Takhar, Utilities Engineer with the City of Delta in Metro Vancouver


    “By working with the roads people on curb cuts, we have actually come up with variations. Our original detail was quite generic. Now we are able to implement it in various types of curb designs. We are striving to make sure that rain garden maintenance is as easy as possible, including inlets and outlets for drainage. We have evolved the designs so it is EASY CLEAN for all the sediment buildup. Our crews can quickly scoop it with a shovel and be on their way! That change resulted from feedback from engineering operations staff regarding what they wanted to see. We just evolved the design as per their operational needs,” stated Harvy Takhar.

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    DESIGN WITH NATURE TO CREATE LIVEABLE COMMUNITIES AND PROTECT STREAM HEALTH: “Broaden our standards so that we have the plethora of solutions on the table. It starts with education, at both the institutional and government levels, to understand why green infrastructure is necessary. And then, apply those broader solutions,” stated Hugh Fraser, former Deputy Director of Engineering, City of Delta


    “Drainage is but a sub-set of municipal engineering. Historical engineering practice did not consider some of the broader objectives that we now try to address through green infrastructure. Drainage in the context of urban planning and development decisions has historically been an afterthought,” stated Hugh Fraser. “Delta urban areas are built out. The municipality is effectively limited to retrofitting of rain gardens within road corridors in order to provide rainwater infiltration that protects stream health. Road rights-of-way account for one-third of the land area of a typical urban watershed.”

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    RAIN GARDEN INNOVATION: “Delta implemented an integrated design team with Sarah Howie as the landscape architect, a design engineer and drafting staff to work with local stream keepers. Engineering operations staff provided in-field installation and implementation expertise,” stated Hugh Fraser, retired Deputy Director of Engineering, City of Delta


    Shared responsibility is a foundation piece for Delta’s rain garden program. “Everyone in the process, students, designers, managers and constructors, must understand and care about the big-picture goal. This requires an ongoing educational process that instills an ethic. This is a team effort. Nothing would have happened without all working together and continuing to work together. Creating a watershed health legacy will ultimately depend on how well we are able to achieve rain water management improvements on both public and private sides of a watershed,” stated Hugh Fraser.

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