Rainwater Management in a Watershed Context: Tools and Practices Reflect Regulatory Context
“Match the Model to the Goal,” reminds Dr. Charles Rowney
“Watershed and drainage models are not a ‘one size fits all’ item. These tools each have pluses and minuses, and tend to reflect the regulatory and physical context for which they were first developed,” states Dr. Charles Rowney, Scientific Authority for British Columbia’s Water Balance Model Partnership.
“Even the modellers who use them very effectively can have unconscious biases which reflect from the places they practice and the tools they use. This is probably a great place to remember the old saying, that ‘if you have a hammer the whole world looks like a nail’. So the challenge we face is to find modeling technologies that are right for our needs, the solutions we prefer, and the processes we have developed.”
“The patterns of development and growth in BC stress fresh and coastal waters in ways that, in sum total, are particular to this region. It is crucial that we look clearly at this picture, understand what is needed, and develop technologies that fit those circumstances.”
“We have to avoid force fitting something, however good it may be somewhere else, that doesn’t mesh with practices and priorities in this Province. To meet the procedural requirements that have emerged by consensus in this area, and to preserve the key targets that have been identified, we are determined to develop and make available a technology that is founded on universal sound scientific principles but custom-fitted to this place and time,” concludes Dr. Rowney.
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