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“We can begin to think about the Tenth Paradigm as one involving making decisions aimed at achieving healthy urban watersheds,” wrote Robert Hicks. “Deciding what we want means we start with a common understanding and a shared vision of the future Target Condition for a healthy watershed. Having a Target Condition provides a direction for the long-term processes of change. An Action Plan then provides a ‘road map’ for getting there over time. This ‘road map’ approach addresses the goal of protecting people, natural systems and property; and then over time striving to move impacted watersheds towards a healthier condition.”

“Experience has taught engineers that we must always be learning, stretching the bounds of expertise, and anticipating new requirements,” wrote Jim Dumont. “We will be able to advance the science and engineering practice in a manner intended by the author and proponents of the Guidebook. Is it time to now go ‘Beyond the Guidebook’? Do we have the knowledge to allow us to do this? The answer to both questions should be yes.”

“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.”

BC local governments are sharing and learning from each other. Water balance tools and case study experience are in place. Local governments can move beyond traditional infrastructure asset management thinking to account for watershed systems as infrastructure assets. Beyond the Guidebook 2015 is a deliverable flowing from the Georgia Basin Inter-Regional Educational Initiative. It is a progress report on how local governments are ‘learning by doing’ to implement affordable and effective science-based practices. It is the third in a series that builds on “Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia”.

“We have moved from an age of natural abundance to the age of natural scarcity and the challenge moving forward will be to find new ways for developing, protecting, and managing healthy ecosystems. Water is critical to the survival and proliferation these ecosystems and our success depends on collective change regarding the management of this precious resource,” stated Michael Florendo, Program Director.

“Implementation of asset management along with the associated evolution of local government thinking is a continuous quality improvement process, not a discrete task. This led us to the concept of a continuum. The relevance of this way of thinking is that different local governments will always be at different points and different levels of maturity along the asset management continuum. This is why we focus on outcomes and do not prescribe what to do in BC,” wrote Ray Fung.

The update presentation highlighted the move towards sustainable watershed systems through asset management. During the question period, the members of the committee chaired by Mayor Darrell Mussatto (photo) asked Kim Stephens to elaborate on a number of topic areas, in particular the connection between watershed health goals and municipal land development practices, and the value to local government from taking an asset management approach.

The Capital Regional District has undergone a transition, from ‘stormwater-based thinking’ that is narrowly focussed, to ‘watershed-based thinking’ that is holistic in approach. Judy Brownoff, Chair of the Environmental Committee, welcomed Kim Stephens and invited him to update the members about the CRD chapter in Beyond the Guidebook 2015. CRD experience shows that local governments can foster a new ‘Land Ethic’ through Integrated Watershed Management Strategies.

In June 2008, Comox Valley local governments volunteered to be a ‘demonstration application’ for exploration of a regional team approach that would be guided by the Living Water Smart target for watershed health. “The Board appreciates that the story of this journey is told in Beyond the Guidebook 2015,” stated Bruce Joliffe, Chair. “As a result of the presentation by Kim Stephens, we have a much better understanding of why it is necessary to integrate watershed systems into asset management over the long-term.”