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“Vancouver Island is the pilot for the Learning Lunch Seminar Series, a continuing education program for local government practitioners. This program will build capacity to apply ‘the new Water Balance Model’, and it will help make the transition to The New Business As Usual,” announced Dale Wall. “The Cowichan Valley Regional District and the City of Courtenay are the host local governments for series in the Spring and Fall, respectively.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's stormwater program — which oversees stormwater discharged by cities, industries, and construction activities — needs radical changes if it is to improve the quality of the nation’s waters, says a new report from the National Research Council. It recommends that permits be based on watershed boundaries, and the program focus on the impact of increased water volume rather than chemical pollutants.

“The desired outcome is that a common understanding of challenges and solutions will result in consistent expectations at front counters across Vancouver Island. To that end, the purpose of the seminars is to bring together representatives of planning, engineering, operations, building services, environment and parks departments from various municipalities. When developers and development consultants hear a consistent message about what is expected of them, we believe this will further accelerate doing business differently,” stated Kim Stephens.

Andy Reese examines how our ideas about stormwater have changed since the 1800s. He insightfully looks back at why we pursued stormwater management in ways which unknowingly – at the time – foreclosed opportunities for more sustainable, livable communities. “It is much easier to know what the next paradigm is than to move into the next paradigm,” wrote Andy Reese.

“Fundamental change in the scope of rainwater/stormwater planning, development standards, construction and operations will only happen if there is a broad understanding as to why the changes are needed, what they are, and how they can be practically implemented,” wrote Erik Karlsen. “Publicly-supported decision-makers will determine the timing and phasing of change. The ability of consumers and the development community to adapt will then set the pace of change. Success in one area will be transferred to others.”

The 'elephant in the living room' was created by Banksy, the famed British graffiti artist. The elephant has been made to stand in a makeshift living room, to blend in to its surroundings. In elaborating on the story behind the image, Kate Miller of the Cowichan Valley Regional District told the Learning Lunch Seminar audience that “there is an elephant in our room right now…which is around how do we deal with rainwater management…how do we deal with the larger policy issues…what's the objective.”