The Okanagan Basin Water Board and the BC Water and Waste Association present
From Stormwater to Rainwater
In October 2010, the Okanagan Basin Water Board and the BC Water and Waste Association (BCWWA) are co-hosting a 2-day workshop titled 'From Rain to Resource: Stormwater Management in a Changing Climate'
“Effective rainwater management is a critical tool for adaptation to climate change – a leading policy concern in British Columbia,” states Anna Warwick Sears, Executive 
Director of the Okanagan Basin Water Board.
“The goal of this workshop is to share positive and innovative developments in rainwater management and to discuss how barriers to change are being overcome in communities in B.C. and beyond.”
“The overall objective is to move municipal governments beyond conventional stormwater management, and inspire them to use rainwater as an integrated resource,” adds Daisy Foster, Chief Executive Officer of BCWWA.
Day 1 – Success Stories & Lessons Learned
“Day 1 of the workshop will be geared toward technical operational and planning staff and will focus on site-level best practices and tools to deal with various situations – for 
example, steep roads and slopes, flat sites and parking lots, retrofitting, etc,” explains Nelson Jatel, OBWB Watershed Stewardship Director. “The presentations will highlight success stories and lessons learned from the Okanagan, Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.”
Day 2 – Integration of Perspectives
“Day 2 of the workshop will be of interest to technical operational and planning staff as well as to policy makers such as elected officials and municipal senior staff. The purpose of day 2 is to integrate the perspectives of the people working on-the-ground and those developing and adopting policy.”
“In the morning, participants will choose from two tracks that will be focused on similar topics but with a 'technical' or 'policy' twist. In the afternoon, the two groups will jointly attend a keynote speaker and a plenary session to stimulate discussion and shared understanding.”
Who Will Benefit from Attending
“We anticipate that this workshop will be of interest to people who put rainwater management techniques and products into practice, such as planners, engineers, and landscape architects from government and private industry, and to those that develop policy around rainwater management, such as elected officials and municipal senior staff,” cpncludes Nelson Jatel.
To Learn More:
The 2-day workshop will be held on October 28/29, 2010 in Kelowna. For program, venue and registration details, click here.
To learn more about the paradigm-shift that has been taking place in British Columbia, click on Beyond the Guidebook 2010: Implementing a New Culture for Watershed Protection and Restoration in British Columbia.
Rainwater management is landscape-based, is about managing the spectrum of rainfall events, and is at the heart of water-centric green infrastructure. For an historical perspective, click on The legacy of the late Don Moore: he initiated the paradigm-shift from STORMwater to RAINwater
Posted July 2010