The “new Water Balance Model” was successfully launched at the inter-regional Partners Forum hosted by North Vancouver District (Feb 2008)
Beyond the Guidebook:
The New Business As Usual
The “new Water Balance Model” was successfully launched at the 2008 Partners Forum on February 29, 2008.
Hosted by the District of North Vancouver and conducted as a Town Hall meeting in the Council Chamber, the Forum audience comprised fifty-six Project Partners, Paying Subscribers and Guests.
A special guest was Tom Puttman, representing the City of Portland Stormwater Advisory Committee.
The theme for the Forum was “Beyond the Guidebook: The New Business As Usual”.
TO LEARN MORE:
To download a copy of the news release that previewed the Forum program, click on Theme for Water Balance Model Partners Forum is Beyond the Guidebook – The New Business As Usual
The New Water Balance Model
“Two rainfall-runoff tools have been merged to create a new tool, the Water Balance Model powered by QUALHYM, that integrates the site with the stream and watershed,” stated Ted van der Gulik.
He is the Senior Engineer with the Ministry of Agriculture and Chair of the Inter-Governmental Partnership (IGP) Steering Committee.
“Funded by the Province of British Columbia, the new tool supports Beyond the Guidebook: The New Business As Usual, a provincial initiative to influence the greening of the Built Environment.”
Forum Program
The Forum centrepiece was an online demonstration of the integrated tool, and the program comprised three parts to provide “structured flexibility” for effective interaction among Partners and guests:
- Part 1 – Demonstrate: how the integrated modeling tool works
- Part 2 – Feed Back: how the integrated tool can be used to influence land use planning
- Part 3 – Inform: how The New Business As Usual will be implemented provincially
TO LEARN MORE:
Download 2008 Water Balance Partners Forum to view a PDF copy of the consolidated PowerPoint storyline.
Key Message
“A key message is the speed with which scenario analyses and comparisons can now be completed,” stated Jim Dumont, the Partnership’s Engineering Applications Authority.
“What previously took weeks can now be done in hours. The significant benefit of the ‘new Water Balance Model’ is the resulting emphasis on strategy and alternative implementation methodologies.”
“The QUALHYMO model is the proven hydrologic calculation engine that will provide consistent delivery of reliable results.”
Watershed-Based Performance Targets
“In 2002, Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia articulated a principle that performance targets at the watershed scale provide a starting point to guide the actions of local government in the right direction,” stated Kim Stephens, the Partnership’s Project Manager.
“The objective is to translate those targets into appropriate site design criteria that then provide local government staff and developers with practical guidance for achieving the goal of stream protection.”
“Establishing performance targets provides a quantifiable way of measuring success in protecting or restoring a watershed, and for identifying what needs to be done to achieve a certain level of protection for a given watershed.”
“At the Forum, the Inter-Governmental Partnership released a document to provide guidance in implementing RAINwater management solutions.”
TO LEARN MORE:
Download Beyond the Guidebook: Establish Watershed-Specific Runoff Capture Performance Targets.
Public Beta Trial Period
During the public Beta Trial period in the second half of 2008, interested parties were invited to try the beta version and provide feedback to the Inter-Governmental Partnership at outreach@waterbalance.ca.
The change-over from the old to the new was completed on May 22, 2008 in conjunction with an announcement by the Province at the Gaining Ground Leadership Summit. At that time, the original Water Balance Model was turned off.
At the conclusion of the Beta Trial period in December 2008, the Tiered Access Protocol again took effect to make a clear distinction between General Users and Paying Subscribers. During the Beta Trial period, all users had access to all aspects of the model.
Create Liveable Communities and Protect Stream Health
The Partners Forum previewed the Vancouver Island regional demonstration pilot for building local government capacity.
This demonstration entails a soft educational approach to facilitate inter-departmental alignment.
The focus of the pilot program is on how tools underpinning Beyond the Guidebook: The New Business As Usual can be applied to create liveable communities and protect stream health.
The Ministry of Community Services is a lead Ministry for rainwater management and green infrastructure.
“The Ministry has an increasing role in ensuring that local governments are advancing and changing the ways they plan and design their communities for the better,” Chris Jensen, the Ministry representative on the IGP steering committee.
“The mandate of the Ministry has changed somewhat in recent years. Our mission is to promote sustainable, liveable communities. And rainwater management is a key element of green solutions.”
