Inter-Governmental Partnership announces schedule for change-over to ‘Water Balance Model powered by QUALHYMO’ (Jan 2008)
News Release – January 21, 2008
Integrated tool will be launched at Partners Forum on February 29, 2008
The existing Water Balance Model is a planning tool that currently has a site focus. Integration of the Water Balance Model with QUALHYMO will now provide drainage engineers with a suite of analytical capabilities, from site to watershed.
Following its January 14th working session with the QUALHYMO Integration Team, the British Columbia Inter-Governmental Partnership responsible for model development announced the following schedule for project completion:
- Annual Partners Forum – February 29th: The beta version of the ‘Water Balance Model powered by QUALHYMO’ will be previewed. The theme for Water Balance Model Partners Forum is ‘Beyond the Guidebook: The New Business As Usual’.
- Beta-Testing Period: Partners and Paying Subscribers will be asked to change-over to the new model during the months of March and April.
- Online Launch Date – After May 1st: The new integrated tool will be available to any all Internet users; and the existing Water Balance Model will be turned off.
According to Ted van der Gulik, Chair of the Inter-Governmental Partnership, ‘The over-arching goal in integrating these tools is to help local governments achieve desired urban stream health and environmental protection outcomes at a watershed scale.’
Beyond the Guidebook: The New Business As Usual
The Water Balance Model powered by QUALHYMO has been developed under the umbrella of the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia. It is a supporting tool for Beyond the Guidebook, a provincial initiative to advance implementation of green infrastructure policies and practices. Published in June 2007, Beyond the Guidebook is a joint effort of the Inter-Governmental Partnership and Green Infrastructure Partnership.
“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”, observes Paul Ham, Chair of the Green Infrastructure Partnership.
British Columbia’s Guidebook
The existing Water Balance Model was developed as an extension of Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia, published by the Province in 2002.
“When the Guidebook was published, it set in motion a chain of outcomes that has resulted in British Columbia being recognized internationally as a leader in implementing a natural systems approach to rainwater management in the urban environment”, adds Peter Law (Ministry of Environment), Chair of the Guidebook Steering Committee,
“The Guidebook established the framework for rainfall capture and a performance target way-of-thinking and designing.”
