Rainwater Management

CHRONICLE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION IN METRO VANCOUVER: “In the 1990s, there was trouble in paradise. All communities knew they had to do something about it. That was the context for the Georgia Basin Initiative,” stated Joan Sawicki, land and resource management champion, and former provincial cabinet minister

November 26, 2024 - Posted in Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation, Metro Vancouver Region, Success Stories: Rainwater Champions & Innovators

Note to Reader:

In November 2024, the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia released THE SYNOPSIS for the Chronicle of Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver. The Chronicle is a sweeping narrative of the 30-year period from 1994 through 2024. The Chronicle is a layered package comprising four documents: the Chronicle of the Journey, Stories Within the Story, Synopsis and Executive Summary. The target audience for each layer is different.

The Synopsis is the third layer in the cascade. It is oriented to senior managers who have limited time to absorb what they need to know to make informed decisions. The Synopsis is visual and so can easily be skimmed in 20 minutes or less! This extract is from page S12 through S14.

Learn to look back to see ahead

“In 1992, I asked the BC Roundtable on the Economy and Environment to investigate the challenge of growth from a bioregional perspective. The idea for the Georgia Basin Initiative was seeded in their report titled Georgia Basin Initiative: Creating a Sustainable Future. The Roundtable findings were clear,” states former Premier Mike Harcourt.

“When you think of the issues we face in 2024… weather extremes, drying rivers, degraded streams, frequent wildfires, population growth, housing affordability…they are no different than they were 30 years ago. They are just more complex and more urgent,” stated Joan Sawicki in a 2024 interview. She was Parliamentary Secretary for the Georgia Basin Initiative during the period 1994 through 1996.

Georgia Basin context for green infrastructure

“The Georgia Basin is the British Columbia portion of a larger bioregion that includes the area surrounding the Puget Sound in Washington State. It is one of the most ecologically diverse areas of North America, containing a wide range of vegetation and fish and wildlife habitats of international significance. It is also one of the most threatened.” – quote from the Georgia Basin Initiative, Newsletter Premiere Issue, 1995

When the stars align anything is possible

“There are initiatives and programs flourishing today that had their beginnings in the Georgia Basin Initiative. And isn’t that how turning that supertanker of thinking happens? Just incrementally, then by gosh, we end up going in a whole different direction than we were when we started,” added Joan Sawicki.

“The 1990s was a very heady time in government in terms of land use planning and natural resource management. Some initiatives were not implemented all that well, but the Georgia Basin Initiative was the exception.”

“It did exactly what it was intended to do, Moreover, even though it only existed as an entity for a couple of years, it spawned a whole number of other initiatives and programs, some of which blossomed and still exist today.”