Department of Fisheries & Oceans Embraces Water Balance Model
The Department of Fisheries & Oceans (DFO) has joined the British Columbia Inter-Governmental Partnership (IGP) that has been responsible for development of the Water Balance Model: “On behalf of the Water Balance Model Partners, we are pleased to welcome DFO to the IGP”, announced Ted van der Gulik, the IGP Chair. “We now have representation plus financial contributions from three federal agencies – DFO, Environment Canada and CMHC. We believe this federal participation bodes well in terms of building Canada-wide support for advancement of the Water Balance Model as a decision support and scenario modeling tool.”
Until the Water Balance Model was developed, the missing link in urban watershed planning, had been a tool that quantifies the benefits – in terms of reducing rainwater runoff volume – of installing source controls under different land use, soil and climate conditions.
According to Corino Salomi, Acting Head for the Lower Fraser Area Land Use Section: “DFO decided to become a funding partner because we support the goal of the IGP in proactively promoting changes in land development practices so that the Built Environment will preserve and/or restore the natural water balance over time. The Water Balance Model is an excellent planning tool that complements our guidelines by demonstrating how to achieve rainwater runoff volume reduction and flow rate reduction performance targets at the source, where rain falls. So, when people ask ‘how can we meet your guidelines?’, we reply ‘start with the Water Balance Model’.”
Because rainwater runoff volume is something that local governments have the ability to control and measure, integration of rainwater management and a ‘design with nature’ approach provides a means to an end in terms of implementing landscaping-based solutions that achieve community liveability objectives.
THE WATER BALANCE MODEL can be applied at three scales – site, subdivision and watershed. As a tool for subdivision design and local site development, for example, the Water Balance Model promotes the integration of perspectives through a collegial and interdisciplinary approach that enables design professionals to collaborate to achieve community liveability objectives:
- Planners – Better Use of Space
- Engineers – Tool for Pre-Design
- Landscape Architects – Green Solutions
- Ecologists – Watershed Function
- Educators – Social Marketing
An over-arching goal is that the Water Balance Model will be used by all stakeholders to make better decisions:
- Local Governments – when communicating with the public.
- Planners and Engineers – when setting performance targets.
- Developers and their Consultants – when testing scenarios.
- Environmental Agencies – when monitoring watershed health.
“The mission of the Partners is to create a legacy for British Columbians. We believe the way to achieve that outcome is by influencing choices by individuals and organizations. This is why we emphasize that the Water Balance Model is about a way of thinking,” added Laura Maclean (of Environment Canada), the IGP Co-Chair.
First posted on www.waterbalance.ca in April 2005