Beyond the Guidebook 2007: Context for Rainwater Management and Green Infrastructure in British Columbia
Water Balance Model Partnership and Green Infrastructure Partnership release guidance document in June 2007
The inter-governmental Water Balance Model Partnership and the Green Infrastructure Partnership have collaborated to produce Beyond the Guidebook: Context for Rainwater Management and Green Infrastructure in British Columbia.
This guidance document provides context for comprehensive rainwater management by connecting the dots between Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia, published in 2002, and:
- the rainfall spectrum;
- performance targets;
- adaptive management;
- the Water Balance Model;
- the Green Infrastructure Partnership;
- the UBC Tree Canopy Research Project; and
- the Beyond the Guidebook initiative.
Protect Stream Health
The Guidebook’s premise that land development and watershed protection can be compatible represented a radical shift in thinking in 2002.
According to Ted van der Gulik, Chair of the Inter-Governmental Partnership, “The Guidebook recognized that water volume
is something over which local government has control through its infrastructure policies, practices and standards. Beyond the Guidebook is an initiative that builds on this foundation by advancing a runoff-based approach and tool – the ‘Water Balance Model powered by QUALHYMO’ – to help local governments achieve desired urban stream health and environmental protection outcomes at a watershed scale.”
“Through implementation of ‘green infrastructure’ policies and practices, the desired outcome in going Beyond the Guidebook is to apply what we have learned at the site scale over the past five years…so that we can truly protect and/or restore stream health in urban watersheds”, adds Paul Ham, Chair of the Green Infrastructure Partnership
The BC Ministry of Community Services is a member of the steering committees for both partnerships. “Provincial grant programs no longer support the traditional ‘pipes and pavement’ approach to drainage planning. The focus of the Ministry of Community Services is on programs that reduce rainwater runoff volume at the site level, by capturing rain where it falls”, reports Glen Brown, Director of Infrastructure and Engineering.
To Learn More:
To download a copy of Beyond the Guidebook, please click on Beyond the Guidebook: Context for Rainwater Management and Green Infrastructure in British Columbia.
Water Sustainability Action Plan
The Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia is sponsored by the Province of British Columbia, and the Action Plan elements are being delivered through partnerships. The Action Plan provides a partnership umbrella for an array of on-the-ground initiatives that promote a ‘water-centric’ approach to community planning and development. One of the tools developed under this umbrella is the Water Balance Model for British Columbia.
Developed by an Inter-Governmental Partnership (IGP) as an extension of Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia, the Water Balance Model enables users to visualize how to implement green infrastructure solutions that achieve rainwater runoff source control at the site scale.
Released in 2002, the Guidebook was a catalyst for change that has resulted in British Columbia achieving international recognition as a leader in implementing a natural systems approach to rainwater management.
