ISMP Course Correction Series is about integrating rainwater management and land use planning
Note to Readers:
ISMP is the acronym for Integrated Stormwater Management Plan. Use of the ISMP term is unique to British Columbia. When the Province released Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia in 2002, the ISMP term gained widespread acceptance to describe a comprehensive approach to watershed-based planning in an urban context.
Protect Watershed Health
“British Columbia case law makes clear the responsibility of municipalities to manage runoff volume to prevent downstream impacts. An increasingly important corollary to that responsibility is the need to work from the regional down to the site scale, to maintain and advance watershed health to ensure that both water quantity and quality will be sustained to meet both ecosystem and human health needs,” states Susan Rutherford, the lawyer on the Green Infrastructure Partnership Steering Committee.
“Hence, the intended purpose of an ISMP is to provide a clear picture of how local governments can be proactive in applying land use planning tools to protect property watershed health, while at the same time accommodating land development and population growth,” continues Ray Fung, Chair.
During the November-December 2010 period, the Water Sustainability Action Plan for British Columbia released a 5-part series that is designed to inform local governments and others about a course correction for ISMPs.
To Learn More:
For more information on the 5-part series, click on Water Bucket publishes excerpts from “Beyond the Guidebook 2010” about why and how to re-focus ISMPs on outcomes — Outcome-oriented planning is a problem-solving PROCESS. It is not a procedure. It is not a matter of applying a regulation or a checklist. Participants have to be committed to the outcome.
This series is adapted from case study experience presented in Beyond the Guidebook 2010: Implementing a New Culture for Watershed Protection and Restoration in British Columbia, released in June.
Posted December 2010