BEYOND THE GUIDEBOOK PRIMER SERIES – Sustainable Watershed Systems: Primer on Application of Ecosystem-based Understanding in the Georgia Basin (released in September 2016)
Think and Act Like a Watershed
Local governments are starting to recognize that natural assets have value, ecosystem services have a role in municipal service delivery, and so need to be integrated into their asset management programs.
For these reasons, Sustainable Watershed Systems: Primer on Application of Ecosystem-based Understanding in the Georgia Basin is written in a magazine-style to help multiple audiences – whether elected, administrative, technical or stewardship – ask the right questions and ensure that “science-based understanding” is applied properly and effectively to implement land development practices that restore the water balance (hydrologic integrity) of watersheds.
The desired outcome is that local governments would achieve Step Three on the Asset Management Continuum for Sustainable Service Delivery (as shown below).
What the reader will learn from this Primer
Everyone learns about the water balance (water cycle) in elementary school, but by high school most have forgotten what they learned. So what does this mean for communities, the reader might well ask? Consider that:
A legacy of community and infrastructure design practices has failed to protect the natural water balance (hydrologic integrity). Failure has financial, level-of-service and life-cycle impacts and implications for taxpayers. Consequences include expensive fixes.
Restoring hydrologic integrity, and thus the water balance, is key to achieving a water-resilient future in urban areas. Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC, this sixth in the Beyond the Guidebook Primer Series serves as a refresher on core concepts that underpin the vision for Sustainable Watershed Systems, through Asset Management.
Watershed systems are infrastructure assets. They need to be managed and protected as such.
The objective of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in publishing this Primer is that readers will grasp WHY it is necessary to “stay true to the science” IF communities are to achieve a vision for Sustainable Watershed Systems. And we hope that readers will be inspired to learn more about the science behind the Water Balance Methodology.
To Learn More:
