Towards Watershed Sustainability: “Develop with Care 2014″ promotes ways to retain and create environmental function and resilience as communities grow in British Columbia (Provincial Driver #2 in 2014)
Note to Reader:
The Province of British Columbia has long recognized that communities are in the best position to develop solutions which meet their own unique needs and local conditions. Furthermore, the emphasis in BC is on progressing towards a desired outcome.
Three landmark initiatives came to fruition in 2014. All embody the enabling philosophy. Together they provide a platform for integrated and coordinated actions that would enable local governments to achieve Sustainable Watershed Systems, through Asset Management.
Accepted ‘standards of practice’- especially those for engineering, planning and finance – influence the form and function of the Built Environment. Creating a watershed health legacy will ultimately depend on implementing ‘Design with Nature’ standards of practice.
To download a PDF copy of the article posted below, click on Develop with Care 2014 preview. This is an extract from Part B of ‘Beyond the Guidebook 2015: Sustainable Watershed Systems, through Asset Management’.
Game-Changers Enable Action
Develop with Care 2014: Environmental Guidelines for Urban and Rural Land Development in British Columbia replaces the 2012 version of this internationally acclaimed document. It provides information and guidance so that local governments, land developers and others involved in land use can use creative approaches to meet the Province’s environmental standards.
Develop with Care 2014 is part of the Province’s results-based approach to land use decisions. It provides supporting details to achieve the objectives of the Living Water Smart and Green Communities initiatives.
Towards Resilient Communities
Develop with Care 2014 has evolved in the course of five releases, starting in 2001.
- Environmental Objectives, Best Management Practices and Requirements for Land Developments (2001)
- Environmental Best Management Practices for Urban and Rural Land Development in British Columbia (2004)
- Develop with Care: Environmental Guidelines for Urban and Rural Land Development in British Columbia (2006)
- Develop with Care 2012
- Develop with Care 2014
The Province has many different programs that provide local governments with guidance to achieve their community goals. Develop with Care 2014 brings together information and guidance from several provincial ministries. The document takes an integrative and collaborative approach so that the information and guidance (to the extent possible) is all in one place.
Alignment of Provincial & Local Government Mandates
The expanded scope of the 2014 edition includes new information on the Province’s programs and direction, with emphasis on the environmental protection mandate of the Ministry of Environment.
Develop with Care 2014 is a tool to engage with local governments, planners, developers and others involved in land use about the provincial mandate and issues.
Land Use and Environment: “Develop with Care 2014 incorporates the integration piece that now makes the direct connection to the Built Environment and the local government mandate. A focus on the Built Environment provides an opportunity to look 
at environmental protection from perspective of land use, and get out in front of issues. Partnering of provincial policies and mandate with the local government decision process for zoning and development leads to local government being in sync with provincial policies and working together,” states Helene Roberge, Unit Head, Clean Communities Section of the Ministry of Environment. She was co-lead for Develop with Care 2014.
A Compilation of Best Practices: “Develop with Care has evolved and grown from its beginnings in 2006, as a reference to preserve species and ecosystems on Vancouver Island, to becoming the reference of choice to protect ecological values in urban and rural communities across British Columbia, elsewhere in Canada and even overseas. 
We are delighted to offer this compilation of best practices to landowners, local governments and the development industry,” summarizes Maggie Henigman, co-lead for creation and evolution of the Develop with Care series. Maggie Henigman is an Ecosystems Biologist with the Ministry of Forests, Land and Natural Resource Operations.
Guidance, Not Legislation
Based on science and experience, and building on leadership that is being shown by many local governments and developers to create resilient communities and developments, Develop with Care 2014 is intended to support and encourage good decision making and to influence sustainable planning. In addition to what is prescribed in mandatory provincial and federal legislation, or to objectives that are set, Develop with Care 2014 provides guidance on how to meet those standards without being prescriptive.
To Learn More:
Click here to visit the Develop with Care 2014 homepage on the Ministry of Environment to download the document.
To download a PDF copy of the PowerPoint slides for the June 2015 webinar, click on Develop with Care 2014: Environmental Guidelines for Urban and Rural Land Development in British Columbia
