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“The concept of natural capital and natural assets can be a challenge to integrate effectively into asset management practices. EAP deals with a basic question: what is a creekshed WORTH, now and in future, to the community and various intervenors? We landed on the notion of the ‘natural commons’ as the starting point for calculating the financial value of a stream bed and riparian corridor. The EAP valuation methodology yields an asset value for the stream corridor that can then be used for budget purposes,” stated Tim Pringle.

“Beyond the Guidebook is an ongoing initiative to provide local governments and practitioners with tools, resources and understanding to integrate the Site with the Watershed and the Stream,” explains Kim Stephens. “Since 2007, the Beyond the Guidebook initiative has been building on the technical foundation created a decade ago when the Province and Environment Canada jointly released Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia.”

“An interface is needed to translate the complex products of science into achievable goals and implementable solution for practical resource management. This interface is what we now call a science-based understanding,” stated Peter Law. “Understanding how land development impacts watershed hydrology and the functions of aquatic ecosystems provides a solid basis for making decisions to guide action where and when it is most needed.”

The methodology is a pragmatic outcome of a ‘design with nature’ guiding philosophy that had its genesis more than two decades ago. “Looking back over the past 20-plus years, if the Stewardship Series was the first wave, the work of UBC’s James Taylor Chair on Sustainable Urban Landscapes was the second, and the Water Balance Approach is the third,” states Erik Karlsen. “Each of these ‘waves’ was initiated by different ‘groups’, but over time they merged from one to the other.”

“The Primer is a ‘bridging document’ because it illustrates how to seamlessly integrate the legal and administrative parts of the Land Development Process through the designing with nature and rainwater management lens,” states Tim Pringle. “The focus of the Primer is on the steps in the Land Development Process. The Primer provides both context and general guidance. While much attention is given to the technical and legal aspects, we are not aware of anyone who has addressed administration.”

“The Primer introduces the issue of the ‘unfunded infrastructure liability’. Viewing the watershed through an asset management lens provides local governments with a driver to require that development practices mimic the Water Balance,” states Craig Wightman. The Primer is an outcome of collaboration involving Living Rivers, the British Columbia Conservation Foundation, the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, the Mid-Vancouver Island Habitat Enhancement Society, and the City of Parksville.

“By addressing what appropriate and affordable should mean in practice, the Primer deals with two separate dimensions of a watershed plan. The first is the watershed itself, where the focus is on the relationship between rainfall and resulting flow rates in streams. The second is the storm drainage system, where the focus is on infrastructure and the level of service,” states Jim Dumont. “The process of establishing an acceptable ‘Level-of-Service’ will require local governments to review, examine, and justify the existing standards and how to transition into the future where costs must be balanced against public needs and expectations.”

“To reach consensus on a shared vision of what is desirable and achievable for watershed protection or restoration, people need a picture of what a stream corridor could and/or should look like,” states Peter Law. “Often, the visioning process boils down to whether or not a stream corridor will have a functioning aquatic ecosystem. By illustrating alternative visions for the long-term environmental health of stream corridors, provide stakeholders with clear visual choices regarding desired outcomes.”