Peter Nilsen brings Washington State experience to the Vancouver Island Coordinating Team
Consistency at the Front Counter
Peter Nilsen, Assistant Engineer with the District of North Cowichan, began his professional career in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. This provides him with a cross-border perspective that has informed discussions around the VICT table.
Regional Team Approach
Together with Kate Miller of the Cowichan Valley Regional DIstrict, Peter Nilsen has been a proponent of a 'regional team approach' in the Cowichan Valley. They have provided leadership that ensured the success of three provincial pilots that were implemented by Vancouver Island local governments under the umbrella of the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia, namely:
- Showcasing Green Infrastructure Innovation on Vancouver Island: The 2007 Series
- 2008 Cowichan Valley Learning Lunch Seminar Series
- 2008 Cowichan Valley Water Balance Model Forum.
“Within the Cowichan Valley Regional District, there are five local government jurisdictions; and the same group of developers and development consultants have projects in all or most of those jurisdictions,” summarized Peter Nilsen at 
the last seminar in the Learning Lunch Series.
“It therefore becomes essential that developers and their consultants hear a consistent message regarding rainwater management and green infrastructure expectations when doing business at the front counters in each of those jurisdictions.”
Washington State and British Columbia on Diverging Paths?
“A parking lot conversation with Peter Nilsen at the conclusion of the Cowichan Showcasing Innovation event had a profound influence on how I approached a cross-border panel presentation in Seattle in October 2007,” recalls Kim Stephens, Program Coordinator for the Water Sustainability Action Plan.
“The insights that I gained from Peter's on-the-ground experience as a design engineer led directly to the title and theme for my co-presentation (with Remi Dubé, City of Surrey Drainage Planning Manager): Rainwater Management on Diverging Paths in British Columbia and Washington State? “
“The panel session in Seattle created a timely opportunity to compare an American top-down prescriptive approach versus a Canadian bottom-up educational approach. Ed O'Brien and Gary Minton, the two Washington State panelists, expressed real angst about their inability to create change at the site level. This contrasted sharply with the BC example that we provided. We explained how we are systematically working through the details of implementing a topsoil depth requirement for rainfall capture.”
Posted September 2009